Colombia National Police capture drug trafficker wanted by US

Alexy Rafael Brito Iguarán (Photo: El Heraldo)

A prominent drug trafficker wanted by the United States was arrested on Sunday in Colombia and is currently waiting to be extradited, reported national news sources. 

A joint effort between the anti-narcotics unit of Colombia’s National Police and the United States’ Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) reportedly saw the arrest of Alexy Rafael Brito, alias “El Feo” (The Ugly), following four months of investigation.

Brito is a member of the “Cohen Clan” drug trafficking network, which operated in northern Colombia, and has been requested for extradition by a Florida Court, United States, for his alleged involvement in the shipment of at least 20 tons of cocaine to the United States.

The arrest was made in a rural area within the Maicao municipality of the northern state of La Guajira.

Brito was considered to be one of the wingmen of Bonifacio Cohen, alias “Tio Boni,” a key figure in the Cohen Clan arrested in November of last year in the coastal city of Barranquilla, in the northern state of Atlantico.

“The Cohen Clan is responsible for the trafficking of at least 21 tons of cocaine hydrochloride along the coasts of La Guajira towards Central America and the United States,” Coronel Barrera of the National Police told Colombian newspaper La Nacion.

Brito was reportedly responsible for managing the gang’s satellite telephones and drug storage centers and hiring pilots to smuggle narcotics into Central America.

The judicial process against Brito is said to be rooted in drug seizures made in international waters, as a result of intelligence from the Colombian National Police’s Anti-Narcotics Unit. Brito is currently in the Colombian capital of Bogota, awaiting extradition to the United States.

Tio Boni was allegedly the head of security for one of the most wanted criminals and drug traffickers of Colombia’s Caribbean Coast, Marcos Figueroa, alias “Marquitos.”

MORE: Colombia govt offers $130K for information on Caribbean gang leader

Maicao, La Guajira

Sources

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