Notorious Colombian drug lord Fabio Ochoa Vázques was released from a US prison last Tuesday, December 3rd.
The former top figure of the notorious Medellín cartel was released after serving 25 years of his 30-year sentence.
Ochoa and his older siblings made a fortune trafficking cocaine from Colombia to the United States in the late 1970s and 1980s. The youngest of the three siblings will now be sent home to Colombia.
Fabio Ochoa Vázques, now 67, was first arrested in Colombia in 1990. At the time, he was one of Colombia’s richest men and he and his siblings were involved in Forbes Magazine’s Rich List for six consecutive years, from 1987 to 1992.
According to one New York Times According to the 1995 report, Fabio was considered the “chief executive” of the family business, despite being the youngest brother.
Fabio, along with his siblings Jorge Luis and Juan David, controlled a large international cocaine production and trafficking network.
Fabio was based in Miami and oversaw the distribution of cocaine from Colombia to the rest of the US.
The Ochoa brothers’ role in Colombia’s cocaine trade was revived in the Netflix TV series Narcos.
The siblings were portrayed as upper-class children of an elite Antiochian horse-breeding and ranching family. They were depicted in contrast to Pablo Escobar, who co-founded the Medellín Cartel and was known for his humble roots.
Fabio first went to prison in 1991 at the age of 37 after he surrendered to Colombian authorities, who were offering a plea deal to drug kingpins. He and his brothers all served five-year sentences in Colombian prison cells in exchange for giving up their cocaine business.
But in 1999 Ochoa ran into trouble with the law again and was arrested for his role in cocaine trafficking.
Despite a high-profile publicity campaign to prevent his extradition, Ochoa was sent to the US to face trial.
He was sentenced to 30 years in prison but served only 25 years, including his prison term in Colombia before extradition.
Despite being convicted, many of the profits from Ochoa’s cocaine empire were never found by law enforcement authorities.
Richard Gregorie, who was part of the US legal team that prosecuted Ochoan, said Associated Press that the drug lord is likely to live comfortably upon his return home.
“He’s not going to retire a poor man, that’s for sure,” said the retired assistant U.S. attorney.
