Armed men on Tuesday raided a hospital in the Colombian city of Medellin, freeing a prominent member of drug trafficking organization “Los Rastrojos.”
According to police, Los Rastrojos ringleader “El Mono Amalfi” escaped while being attended to in a hospital in the northwest of Medellin. While in the waiting room, seven armed men entered and opened fire at the two guards who had accompanied him. After wounding the guards, the men took the suspected drug trafficker with them and left.
The 41-year-old drug trafficker was reportedly in the hospital for an examination, after complaining of “pain in the lower extremities.”
Authorities have issued a $16,450 reward for information leading up to the capture of El Mono Amalfi, whose real name is Rubiel Medina Cardona.
El Mono Amalfi was captured in Medellin in November 2012, and subsequently charged for various offenses, including attempted murder, assault of a public servant, and illegal weapons possession. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
According to Colombia’s prison institute (INPEC), El Mono Amalfi was a “highly dangerous prisoner” and should have been accompanied by more than two prison guards. The director of the institute has ordered an investigation into the incident, to determine why the criminal was not accompanied by a larger escort.
According to reports, El Mono Amalfi is a former leader of La Oficina de Envigado, a crime syndicate originally formed as an assassination branch of Pablo Escobar’s Medellin cartel.