HomeNewsColombia's Prison Corruption Exposed as Top Trafficker Strolls Out
NEWS

Colombia's Prison Corruption Exposed as Top Trafficker Strolls Out

COLOMBIA / 21 MAR 2022 BY JUAN DIEGO POSADA EN

A top Colombian drug trafficker walked out of a maximum-security prison in Bogotá without ever being challenged, exposing deep-seated corruption and threatening important criminal cases.

On the morning of March 18, Juan Larinson Castro Estupiñán, alias “Matamba,” escaped from prison by wearing a security guard outfit and walking through several security checkpoints, according to Justice Minister Wilson Ruiz on Twitter. Matamba was the former leader of Cordillera Sur, a drug trafficking gang based in the southern department of Nariño, and which was a sub-structure of the larger Urabeños criminal group.

Video footage from the prison released to the media show Matamba, in a uniform, walking past cameras and checkpoints. Prison officials noticed his absence when they performed a daily headcount in the wing where he was housed.

SEE ALSO: Profile of the Urabeños - Gulf Cartel

Matamba maintained strict control over drug trafficking in much of the southwest department of Nariño. He was a reportedly close ally of former Urabeños leader, Dairo Antonio Úsuga, alias “Otoniel,” who was captured last October after a multi-year manhunt.

Investigators linked Matamba to cocaine deals with the National Liberation Army (Ejército de Liberación Nacional - ELN), dissidents from the now-demobilized Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel.

Matamba was captured on May 7, 2021 in the central department of Santander on charges of homicide and extortion, among others.

InSight Crime Analysis

Matamba's escape reveals once again the depths of corruption in Colombian prisons and also puts in jeopardy a number of important criminal cases in which he was involved.

While the investigation into his escape has just begun, it seems difficult to believe that Matamba could have carried out his plan, wearing a prison guard uniform and walking past multiple controls, without inside help.

And La Picota prison is getting quite a reputation. In March, an investigation by Colombian media, Caracol, revealed that Carlos Mattos, a businessman awaiting trial on bribery charges, was going in and out of the prison at will to have private meetings in his office in Bogotá.

Officials inside the prison were found to have been assisting him and Colombia's President Iván Duque fired the head of the country's prison service.

SEE ALSO: Top Ex-Colombian Officers' Trafficking Case Recalls Past Abuses

A more severe ramification may be that Matamba's escape weakens the case against high military commanders alleged to have participated in the drug trade. In February, a retired general and two retired colonels were accused of having helped Matamba consolidate control of drug trafficking along the Pacific coast of Nariño by providing him with military intelligence

Matamba had been jailed 14 times in the past and was facing likely extradition to the United States.

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

BOLIVIA / 29 DEC 2022

The US is losing allies in Latin America just as production of cocaine, fentanyl, and other synthetic drugs is going…

COLOMBIA / 28 JUN 2021

Convulsed by nearly eight weeks of anti-government protests, the Colombian city of Cali has also experienced a terrible surge in…

COLOMBIA / 26 JAN 2023

Otoniel, the fallen head of the Urabeños crime syndicate, has pleaded guilty in New York. His trial will mark the…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Chemical Precursor Report continues to be a reference in the region

19 MAY 2023

For the second week in a row, our investigation into the flow of precursor chemicals for the manufacture of synthetic drugs in Mexico has been cited by multiple regional media…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime’s Chemical Precursor Report Widely Cited

THE ORGANIZATION / 12 MAY 2023

We are proud to see that our recently published investigation into the supply chain of chemical precursors feeding Mexico’s synthetic drug production has been warmly received.

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime’s Paraguay Election Coverage Draws Attention 

5 MAY 2023

InSight Crime looked at the various anti-organized crime policies proposed by the candidates in Paraguay’s presidential election, which was won on April 30 by Santiago Peña. Our pre-election coverage was cited…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Cited in OAS, CARICOM Reports

28 APR 2023

This week, InSight Crime’s work was cited nine times in a new report by the Organization of American States (OAS) titled “The Impact of Organized Crime on Women,…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Staff Cited as Experts by International Media

21 APR 2023

This week, InSight Crime deputy editor, Juan Diego Posada, was interviewed by the Associated Press about connections between the ex-FARC mafia and Brazilian criminal groups, and…