Fabio Ochoa Vasquez, a co-founder of the Medellin Cartel and a former lieutenant of the infamous drug lord Pablo Escobar, was sent back to Colombia on Monday after completing a lengthy prison sentence in the US.
At 67, he was no longer sought by authorities upon his return and arrived at Bogota airport to a throng of journalists. Ochoa regained his freedom in the United States on December 3, having been incarcerated for over 20 years.
In 2003, he was sentenced to more than 30 years in prison and fined $25,000 for being part of a group that smuggled an average of 30 tons of cocaine into the US monthly from 1997 to 1999.
By the time of Ochoa’s release, Escobar, who had been the most wanted drug lord globally, had already been killed by Colombian police a decade prior.
Of the founders of the world’s largest drug syndicate, only Ochoa and Carlos Lehder, also known as “Rambo,” were extradited to the US. Lehder was released in 2020 and moved to Germany due to his dual citizenship.
In 1990, Ochoa surrendered to Colombian authorities under a special law enacted by then-president Cesar Gaviria. It offered reduced sentences and protection from extradition for criminals who cooperated, admitted their guilt, and implicated their associates. He was released in 1996 after serving almost six years in a high-security facility near Medellin.
However, Ochoa returned to drug trafficking and was arrested again in October 1999 during an extensive operation that resulted in the capture of many suspected drug lords.
After being extradited in 2001, numerous cartel members provided testimony against him after accepting plea deals with US prosecutors.
Despite the elimination or capture of Medellin Cartel leaders, Colombia continues to be the leading exporter of cocaine in the world.
