U.S. authorities indicted one of Colombia’s biggest drug lords, Daniel “El Loco” Barrera, on cocaine trafficking charges.
Colombia is offering a $2.7 million dollar reward for the capture of Daniel Barrera, who remains at large.
Barrera was charged alongside two brothers, Javier and Orlando Fernandez Barrera, known as “Los Gorditos.” They are currently being held in Colombia and will be extradited to stand trial in Miami.
U.S. authorities announced the indictment, saying it was a “another success in our efforts to dismantle the emerging BACRIMs.” The Colombian government refers to new generation drug gangs that have taken the place of the paramilitaries as criminal bands (bandas criminales – BACRIMs).
Barrera’s criminal network is thought to be responsible for shipping more than 100 tons of cocaine annually. The indictment of Daniel Barrera and the Fernandez Barrera brothers is another blow to a criminal organization that has been targeted by multi-national law enforcement operations. Over the past year, Operation Final Flight disrupted Barrera’s aerial trafficking routes, while Operation Deep Water dismantled a network that manufactured submarines to transport Barrera’s cocaine for distribution in the U.S.