HomeColombiaErickson Vargas Cardenas, alias 'Sebastian' (Oficina)
COLOMBIA

Erickson Vargas Cardenas, alias 'Sebastian' (Oficina)

COLOMBIA PERSONALITIES / LATEST UPDATE 2016-11-07 22:12:46 EN

Erickson Vargas Cardenas, alias "Sebastian," is a former hitman turned leader of the feared Oficina de Envigado organization that operates in and around Medellin, Colombia. He was captured by Colombian authorities on 8 August, 2012.

History

Vargas worked alongside the Oficina’s founder, Diego Murillo, alias "Don Berna," in the vigilante movement against the famed drug trafficker Pablo Escobar in the early 1990s. He reportedly contributed valuable intelligence to authorities that helped lead to Escobar’s capture and death in 1993.

Sebastian Factbox

DOB: October 13, 1973

Group: Oficina de Envigado

Criminal Activities: Drug trafficking, drug dealing, kidnapping, extortion, murder

Status: Captured

Area of Operation: Medellin, Colombia

Vargas continued to manage the Oficina’s hitmen network up until Murillo’s extradition in 2008, while another leader, Maximiliano Bonilla, alias "Valenciano," mainly handled drugs trafficking operations. Bonilla and Vargas then fought each other for control of Medellin, especially the city’s so-called “micro-trafficking” business (which can bring in profits of more than $5.25 million a month), gambling and extortion schemes.

Criminal Activities

Vargas was a key figure in handling the Oficina de Envigado's assassin network. He also forged ties with international trafficking organizations, such as the Zetas in Mexico.

Geography

Vargas’ center of influence in Medellin was said to be Comuna 9.

Allies and Enemies

Following Murillo's arrest and extradition to the United States in 2008, Vargas began battling Valenciano -- a fellow Oficina leader -- for control of criminal activities in Medellin.

Prospects

Vargas was arrested in 2012 and extradited to the United States in October 2013 to face drug trafficking charges.

Resources

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

COLOMBIA / 16 JUN 2022

Jobanis de Jesús Ávila Villadiego, alias "Chiquito Malo," is the current commander of the AGC, succeeding Otoniel.

COLOMBIA PERSONALITIES / 21 JUN 2022

Colombian kingpin, Gilberto Rodríguez Orejuela, alias “The Chess Player,” was one of the leaders of the Cali Cartel.

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Contributes Expertise Across the Board 

22 SEP 2023

This week InSight Crime investigators Sara García and María Fernanda Ramírez led a discussion of the challenges posed by Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s “Total Peace” plan within urban contexts. The…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Cited in New Colombia Drug Policy Plan

15 SEP 2023

InSight Crime’s work on emerging coca cultivation in Honduras, Guatemala, and Venezuela was cited in the Colombian government’s…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Discusses Honduran Women's Prison Investigation

8 SEP 2023

Investigators Victoria Dittmar and María Fernanda Ramírez discussed InSight Crime’s recent investigation of a massacre in Honduras’ only women’s prison in a Twitter Spaces event on…

THE ORGANIZATION

Human Trafficking Investigation Published in Leading Mexican Newspaper

1 SEP 2023

Leading Mexican media outlet El Universal featured our most recent investigation, “The Geography of Human Trafficking on the US-Mexico Border,” on the front page of its August 30…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Coverage of Ecuador Leads International Debate

25 AUG 2023

This week, Jeremy McDermott, co-director of InSight Crime, was interviewed by La Sexta, a Spanish television channel, about the situation of extreme violence and insecurity in Ecuador…