HomeNewsBriefUS Court Sentences Rastrojos Founder to 30 Years In Prison
BRIEF

US Court Sentences Rastrojos Founder to 30 Years In Prison

DIEGO RASTROJO / 7 AUG 2014 BY CAMILO MEJIA EN

A US federal court has sentenced Diego Perez Henao, alias "Diego Rastrojo" -- a former top leader of Colombia's Rastrojos criminal organization -- to 30 years in prison, closing yet another chapter for the greatly diminished crime syndicate.

Perez pleaded guilty to trafficking 81,000 kilos of cocaine between 1994 and 2008, initially alongside the now deceased drug trafficker Wilber Varela and later as part of the Rastrojos criminal group, reported El Tiempo. In addition to his prison sentence, the court ordered Perez to pay a fine of $1 million and imposed a five-year probation period following the completion of his sentence, reported El Colombiano.

According to the Associated Press, Perez initially accepted drug trafficking charges in January, which included conspiracy to manufacture and distribute cocaine intended for trafficking to the United States.

Perez was captured in Venezuela in June 2012 and extradited to the United States in August 2013. He still faces charges in Colombia for 66 homicides committed between 2008 and 2012 in Colombia's southwestern department of Valle del Cauca. 

InSight Crime Analysis

Perez initially founded the Rastrojos as the military arm of a faction of the Norte del Valle Cartel (NDVC). He later supported Javier Calle Serna, alias "Comba," when he killed Varela, an NDVC leader, and seized control of the organization. Under the leadership of Diego Rastrojo, Comba and his brothers, and Daniel Barrera, alias "El Loco," the Rastrojos became one of the most powerful drug trafficking organizations in Colombia. At the height of its operations, the group had a presence in more than a third of the country's provinces and was a major cocaine supplier for Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel. 

The Rastrojos suffered major blows in 2012, however, when two of the Calle Serna brothers -- Javier and Luis Enrique -- surrendered, and the third brother, Diego Rastrojo and Loco Barrera were all captured. The group now reportedly operates in small, localized cells.

SEE ALSO: Diego Rastrojo Profile

The hefty sentence handed down to Perez is likely in part a product of his failure to hand himself in early to US authorities. Unlike Perez, Comba was quick to cut a deal with the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) when he saw trouble on the horizon. Terms of such an agreement are likely to have included a shorter prison term and the guaranteed protection of family members in exchange for providing intelligence -- which may have included information leading to Perez's arrest. It has been rumored Comba will receive 15 years and has offered his properties up in exchange for his brother's pardon.

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

COCAINE / 2 MAY 2022

One of the first Balkan cocaine traffickers to ever establish a presence in South America and forge criminal alliances between…

COLOMBIA / 4 AUG 2022

A local gang targeted bus drivers in Barranquilla, Colombia, to gain attention ahead of the country's change in government.

COLOMBIA / 28 DEC 2022

Colombian President Gustavo Petro's Total Peace plan faces a very tough road ahead. Can over 20 criminal groups really all…

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…