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| Drug cartel leader Diego Léon Montoya Sánchez was captured by Colombian forces Monday as he hid under a pile of leaves on
a ranch in Colombia. Daniel Munoz/Reuters |
Colombian drug lords toppled
The capture of the No. 1 cocaine kingpin, Diego Montoya, follows a string of recent successes against major drug traffickers in the South American nation.
from the September 13, 2007 edition
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But none of these successes have been as important as the arrest of Montoya, known as the "Boss of bosses." Montoya was on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list, alongside Osama bin Laden, on charges of drug trafficking, money laundering, and murder.
Still, Colombia and US officials agree, the arrest of Montoya is unlikely to significantly affect the flow of cocaine to the US and Europe. The Norte del Valle cartel is estimated to control 70 percent of the 500 tons of cocaine exported from Colombia each year.
More important, says Aldo Lale-Demoz, country representative for the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, is the morale boost for those on the front lines of Colombia's battle against drug mafias. "People no longer think of organized drug cartels as a pest that is impossible to kill," says Mr. Lale-Demoz. "Impunity no longer exists."
Colombian and US law enforcement officials place Montoya's capture on the same level of significance as the 1993 shooting death of Medellín cartel leader Pablo Escobar, and the arrest of the Cali cartel bosses Miguel and Gilberto Rodríguez Orejuela in 1995.
Montoya's rise reflected the hydra-like qualities of drug cartels – as soon as one leader goes down, two or three pop up in his place. Montoya, say law enforcement officials, started his underworld career in the 1990s overseeing the Cali cartel's cocaine labs and took advantage of the demise of his former bosses to take control of everything from coca fields and cocaine labs to export routes.
While Montoya's fall may trigger a bloody war over who gets control over his routes, few will likely seek to become the visible leader.
Whereas Pablo Escobar in the 1980s flaunted his power and wealth, today big-time drug traffickers often try to keep a lower profile. "Nobody wants to be a figurehead anymore," the DEA agent says, because they know they are in the cross hairs of law enforcement in Colombia and the United States.
US and Colombian officials have identified Montoya's heirs and have begun intelligence operations against them. "We don't know who will take his place but our intelligence has given us clues as to who it could be, and we will continue hitting those organizations until we finish them off," Santos said.
That's a shift. "Previously a single success would take place and they [the Colombians] didn't have the institutional and intelligence infrastructure to capitalize on it," the DEA agent agrees. But that's changed now. "There are things in place today that allow ... for a real sustained exploitation of events," he says.
Speculation as to who might succeed Montoya centers around Wilber Varela, known as "Jabón" or "Soap" for his ability to slip through the grasp of authorities and enemies, a longtime rival of Montoya within the Norte del Valle cartel. Other heirs, cited in local media, include Oscar Varela Garcia, known as "Capachivo;" Jorge Iivan Perea, known as "Iguana;" and Gilardo Rodriguez Herrera, whose nickname is "Shirt Man." All are relatively unknown to the general Colombian public.
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