Captured criminal leader “Sebastian” will be transferred to a maximum security prison in Colombia as a preventative measure, reported local media Monday.
According to Colombia’s National Institute of Punishment and Imprisonment (INPEC), Erick Vargas Cardona, alias “Sebastian,” will be moved to the high-security Combita jail in the east-central department of Boyaca.
The former boss of second city Medellin‘s largest crime syndicate Oficina de Envigado and one of Colombia’s most wanted criminals, was allegedly continuing to commit crimes from his jail cell in the Pitoca prison of the capital Bogota.
It was established that the former criminal leader was giving orders to those that replaced him as heads of the organization, which is considered one of the most powerful criminal organizations in Colombia. It controls most of the drug trade and extortion in Medellin.
The 38-year-old Sebastian began his criminal career in the 1990s when he became a low-ranked member of Oficina de Envigado, the military wing of Pablo Escobar’s Medellin cartel.
Sebastian became top commander of the crime syndicate in 2008 following the extradition of former leader Don Berna and a successful war with fellow-Oficina commander “Valenciano” who was arrested in Venezuela in 2011.
Sebastian was captured last August 8 in the central northwestern Antioquia department during an operation carried out by the national police.