A prominent drug lord demanded Thursday that media remove photographs and video footage of his wedding, where he was arrested, within 24 hours.
Lawyers representing captured drug trafficker Camilo Torres, alias “Fritanga,” brought a request for privacy before a Bogota court. Torres requested that all photos and videos taken at his wedding be removed from the public domain.
Police stormed Torres’ extravagant wedding ceremony on June 30 and arrested him on charges of drug trafficking. The plush affair took place at a five-star hotel on the island of Mucura, off the coast of Cartagena in northern Colombia. The groom flew more than 200 guests — some of whom were prominent Colombian celebrities — and paid $1.41 million for the occasion, according to local media. Singing sensations Silvestre Dangond and Jean Carlos Centeno were both on the guest list.
Torres made the privacy request on the basis that the exposure of his private life would put the lives of his family and wedding guests in danger.
His arrest made international headlines after it was discovered that an official death certificate stated that he had been dead since December 2010. Colombia’s Inspector General’s Office announced plans Monday to investigate the issuance of the false certificate.
The case sparked further intrigue after Colombian magazine Semana reported that seven U.S. citizens, three of them alleged to be police officers, attended the wedding.
Police believe Torres to have been a high-ranking operative for the drug trafficking organization “Los Urabeños”. The Urabeños are mainly active in Colombia’s northern province and are largely comprised of former mid-level paramilitary leaders.