COLOMBIA: SUSPECTED HEAD OF CALI DRUG CARTEL CAPTURED BY COLOMBIAN AUTHORITIES.

Record ID: 501005

  • Title: COLOMBIA: SUSPECTED HEAD OF CALI DRUG CARTEL CAPTURED BY COLOMBIAN AUTHORITIES.
  • Date: 20th February 1998
  • Summary: BOGOTA, COLOMBIA. (FEBRUARY 18, 1998) (RTV) LV: HELICOPTER CARRYING DRUG LORD JOSE NELSON URREGO ARRIVING TO BOGOTA (2 SHOTS) MV/GV: POLICE OFFICERS LEADING URREGO FROM HELICOPTER, PRESS SURROUNDS HIM/ URREGO ENTERING POLICE BUILDING (3 SHOTS) GV/MV: INTERIOR OF BUILDING, ONLOOKERS GATHERED AROUND (2 SHOTS) GV: POLICE LEAD URREGO OUT OF ELEVATOR TO PRESENT HIM TO THE PRESS. CU/PAN/ZOOM/GV: URREGO/ POLICE LEAD HIM AWAY GV/CU: PRESIDENT ERNESTO SAMPER SAYING "WITH THIS CAPTURE, WE CLOSE THE CHAPTER ON THE FIGHT WE HAVE BEEN CARRYING ON AGAINST THE CALI CARTEL. I WANT TO CONGRATULATE POLICE CHIEF ROSSO JOSE SERRANO AND THE ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE FOR THE WORK THAT WAS CARRIED OUT." (SPANISH) MV: PRESS MV: SERRANO SAYING "IT WAS AN IMPORTANT CATCH FOR US BECAUSE HE WAS ALLEGEDLY ONE OF THE HIGH COMMANDER OF THE CALI CARTEL. AFTER TWO AND HALF YEARS OF BEING ON THE RUN, WE MANAGED TO LOCATE HIM IN YAMO GRANDE." (SPANISH) MV: SAMPER CONTINUES "THIS IS VERY GOOD NEWS BECAUSE IT CLOSES THE CHAPTER WHICH WE STARTED THREE YEARS AGO REGARDING THE FIGHT AGAINST THE CALI CARTEL AND ALL OF ITS ORGANIZATIONS."
  • Embargoed: 7th March 1998 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: BOGOTA, COLOMBIA
  • Country: Colombia
  • Topics: General,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA432ATQUCJIIYQPJ9FZUO03ZRF
  • Story Text: Colombian authorities have captured a reputed drug lord who was suspected of taking over the Cali cartel.
    A reputed drug lord seen as an heir apparent to the jailed leaders of the Cali cartel was arrested early on Thursday (February 19) outside Colombia's northwest city of Medellin, authorities said.
    Jose Nelson Urrego, known by his alias "El Loco" or "Crazy," and the purported head of the so-called Cartel del Norte del Valle, was caught shortly before dawn by police who raided the ranch where he was holed up with two bodyguards and a pair of female companions, a police spokesmen said.
    "He's one of the top capos of capos of the Colombian drug trade who was still at large and had been in hiding for more than two years," the chief spokesman for the National Police told Reuters.
    He said the capture of the 43-year-old Urrego had been coordinated by National Police Chief Gen.Rosso Jose Serrano, who was to present him at a news conference in the capital, Bogota, later on Thursday.
    Under a law approved by Congress last November, which lifted Colombia's ban on extradition, Urrego could stand trial in the United States, where he might face a possible life sentence for drug trafficking.
    The Cartel del Norte del Valle has been described by police and U.S.drug agents as Colombia's most powerful drug gang.Its rise to power followed the demise of the Cali cartel, whose chieftains have all been arrested or killed since 1995.
    Police said that Urrego, who allegedly contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to President Ernesto Samper's 1994 election campaign, was the head of a cocaine smuggling network that used the Caribbean resort island of San Andres for shipments to Mexico, Central America and ultimately the United States and Europe.
    His holdings, apart from luxury hotels and apartments in San Andres, are believed to include a fleet of tuna boats used for drug-running across the Caribbean.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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