A joint operation between National Police and the Office of the Prosecutor General has resulted in the capture of one of Colombia’s most wanted criminals, reported newspaper El Espectador.
Hector Fabio Garcia Gomez, alias “El Chorizo,” was the alleged successor to the Comba brothers of the Norte del Valle Cartel and subsequent founders of “Los Rastrojos,” a successor group to the Cali and Norte del Valle Cartels. The group was allegedly financed primarily through drug trafficking and extortion.
According to national newspaper El Tiempo, Garcia Gomez was captured in the southwestern Colombian state of Valle del Cauca in the city of Tulua. Garcia Gomez was in charge of trafficking coca base – a precursor to cocaine production – to other parts of the region for refinement into cocaine, and its eventual exportation abroad with the Rastrojos.
Garcia Gomez was one of the 12 heads of criminal groups most wanted in Colombia. Captured at his farm were two cars, a motorcycle, a shotgun, a pistol, a revolver and their respective ammunition, reported by Colombian daily El Espectador.
PROFILE: Los Rastrojos
Unlike, the majority of other major Colombian drug trafficking organizations, the Rastrojos is not formed from the demobilized paramilitary organization AUC, but has its origins in the now-extinct Cali and the Norte del Valle cartels.
The Rastrojos have recently suffered a series of major setbacks in recent, in May 2012, “El Doctor” surrendered to U.S. authorities and a month later, founder “Diego Rastrojo” was arrested in Venezuela. In September, one of their key allies, “El Loco Barrera” was also arrested inside Venezuelan territory. Only weeks later, “Comba” also gave up and surrendered to the DEA in Panama.
Sources
- Cae heredero de los hermanos Comba en Tuluá (El Espectador)
- Capturan a ‘Chorizo’, heredero de los comba en el cartel del Valle (El Tiempo)