United States authorities will repatriate former Medellin Cartel boss Fabio Ochoa on December 12, according to Colombia’s police chief.
In a press statement, General William Salamanca confirmed that the 67-year-old Ochoa, one of the founders of the notorious drug trafficking organization, was released from prison last week.
We will hold a meeting with the United States to [coordinate] Fabio Ochoa’s arrival. We have information that he will arrive on December 12.
General William Salamanca
Ochoa was sentenced to 30 years and five months in prison in August of 2003 on charges that he continued being involved in drug trafficking after serving time for his role as one of the Medellin Cartel’s bosses between 1978 and 1985.
For this, the cartel boss spent five years in prison after surrendering to authorities voluntarily in 1991.
Ochoa lived in Miami in the 1970’s and early 1980’s from where he coordinated much of the distribution of the Medellin Cartel’s cocaine exports.
US authorities initially charged the cartel boss on drug trafficking charges in 1984 in response to the cartel’s war against the State.
While on the run from justice, Ochoa allegedly took part in a conspiracy to assassinate former CIA pilot and DEA informant Barry Seal.
The Ochoa Clan, which consisted of Fabio and his brothers Juan David and Jorge Luis, formed half of the Medellin Cartel’s informal directorate and played a major role in the financing of Contra paramilitaries that sought to overthrow the Nicaraguan government in the 1980’s.
In Colombia, the Ochoa Clan was close to the family of former President Alvaro Uribe and partly responsible for the creation of the first drug-funded far-right paramilitary groups that took part in the country’s dirty war after the mid 1980’s.