A Spanish judge on Monday remanded in custody four men suspected of
involvement in the murder of Colombian drug lord Leonidas Vargas in a
Madrid hospital in January.
Police detained the three Colombians and a Romanian on Thursday in the Madrid region.
Vargas,
60, was shot dead on January 8 in his room in the October 12th Hospital
where he was being treated for a pulmonary complaint.
A suspected hired killer walked into the room, asked another patient
whether a sleeping man was Vargas and then pumped four bullets into him.
Another man was believed to have kept watch outside the door. The killers fled before the murder was discovered.
Police said the motive was probably a settling of scores.
Six
days later, gunmen in Colombia also murdered his brother, Fabio Vargas,
along with actress and former beauty queen, Liliana Lozano.
Spanish
police arrested Vargas in July 2006 in connection with a shipment of
500 kilogrammes (1,100 pounds) of cocaine. He was subsequently released
on bail as the investigation continued pending a possible trial.
At the time of his arrest, Colombia was offering a reward of five million dollars (3.9 million euros) for his capture.
A Colombian court sentenced him to 19 years in jail in 1995, but he was released in 2002.
Investigators considered Vargas a key figure in the Colombian drugs trade, linked to the Medellin cartel.
Spain is Europe’s main entry point for cocaine from South America, mostly from Colombia, the world’s top producer of the drug. (AFP)