Javier Antonio Calle Serna, also known as “Comba,” alleged leader of the “Los Rastrojos” cartel has been charged in a New York federal court with dealing 25,000 kilograms (54,000 pounds) of cocaine and money laundering, officials said Tuesday.
Eight fellow members of Los Rastrojos are in custody in Colombia and awaiting extradition to the United States, said Robert Nardoza, a spokesman for the US prosecutor’s office in Brooklyn, New York, but Comba is still on the run.
According to the indictment, “Los Rastrojos” have partnered with Mexican drug cartels since about 2004 in shipping tons of Colombian cocaine to the United States via Mexico, Venezuela and other Latin American countries.
Comba is charged with operating a criminal enterprise and with murder. His property and assets have been frozen.
“This indictment is the result of an ongoing international effort to dismantle narcotics trafficking organizations that export cocaine from Central and South America into the United States,” said US Attorney Loretta Lynch.