An alleged drug trafficker wanted in the United States has been captured in southwestern Colombia, local media reported Monday.
Wilson Quintero Cuero, also known as “Gandhi,” “Miwi,” or “El Viejo,” was captured by the Colombian army in the southwestern Valle del Cauca department.
The alleged drug trafficker was reported to have formed part of the now-defunct Norte del Valle cartel and its armed wing, “Los Rastrojos,” which is still active in large parts of Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela.
According to local Colombian newspaper El Pais, Cuero was considered the “heir” of Wilber Varela, the leader of the Norte del Valle cartel who was murdered on Venezuelan soil in 2008.
“Alias Gandhi began his criminal career as an assassin in service of Wilber Varela alias Jabon, he rose rapidly to become one of his men of confidence…he is responsible for leading some 80% of the assassination…in Cali, Northern Valle [del Cauca] and the Eje Cafetero and the hundreds of dead in the [war] between the criminal groups Los Rastrojos and Los Urabeños,” an army representative told Colombian newspaper El Tiempo.