Captured drug lord “Don Mario” has confirmed that ex-paramilitaries handed him the reigns of power following their demobilization, Colombia’s highest police official said.
National Police Commissioner Oscar Naranjo told W Radio that Don Mario, whose real name is Daniel Rendon Herrera, had made a “spontaneous confession” to him during his transportation by airplane to Bogota, following his arrest early Wednesday morning.
Naranjo said that during the flight, Don Mario confirmed that in December 2007, demobilized paramilitaries had named him military commander of their supposedly demobilized criminal organization. The police commissioner said that while negotiating their demobilization, paramilitary leaders had created a “paralell structure” to ensure that the drug trade continued to function.
He said Colombia had been deceived and that the paramilitaries’ duplicity was “treacherous to the process of Justice and Peace”. The Justice and Peace Law affords paramilitaries benefits, such as reduced sentences, in exchange for their demobilzation and collaboration with justice.
Naranjo also told W Radio that Don Mario had expressed interest in collaborating further with the Police.