The trial of seven men accused of being involved in the murder of Colombian drug lord Leonidas Vargas in Madrid in 2009 is set to begin Monday, Spanish news agency EFE reports.
Jonathan Andres is facing charges of carrying out the killing, while a further five Colombians are being tried for their cooperation. The seventh man is charged with accessory to the murder.
The defendants face sentences of anything between five and 28 years in prison.
The killing took place at a Madrid hospital on January 8, 2009. Vargas was being investigated at the time by Spanish authorities for his ties to the drug trade, and was on bail due to lung disease.
Andres is alleged to have entered the room and shot Vargas five times while an accomplice stood guard at the door.
Vargas had previously been convicted by a Medellin court in 1995 to 19 years in prison for drug trafficking and another 26 years for murder, illegal possession of firearms and illicit enrichment. However, he was freed in 1999 when Colombia’s Supreme Court of Appeal overruled the conviction of the lower court.
He is alleged to have led the Caqueta cartel which at the time controlled the drug trade in southern Colombia.
