Former drug trafficker Fabio Ochoa's return to Colombia after being deported from the United States has revived old wounds for victims of the Medellin cartel, who express regret over Colombian authorities' decision to release Ochoa. Some people do.
Some cartel victims say they hope the former drug lord will at least cooperate with human rights groups' ongoing efforts to investigate one of the most violent periods in Colombian history, and also told Colombian prosecutors. They demanded that Mr. Ochoa be questioned.
In the late '80s and early '90s, the Medellín Cartel waged war on the Colombian state, which was ramping up efforts to disrupt drug shipments, arrest drug traffickers, and seize property, targeting police officers, politicians, and others. , killed judges, journalists, and bystanders. Some Colombian historians believe that cartel leader Pablo Escobar was responsible for the murder of 10,000 people.
Ochoa was one of the cartel's main operators at the time and lived in Miami for several years, where he ran the cocaine cartel's distribution center. He denies involvement in the cartel killings. However, many cartel victims and their relatives are highly skeptical of that claim.
Carlos Fernando Galán, the mayor of Bogota, was 12 years old when his father, presidential candidate Luis Carlos Galán, was murdered by cartel hitmen in 1989.
On Monday night, Galán wrote in a post on Twitter/X that it was “unacceptable” that Ochoa was not charged with any crime in Colombia.
Galán's older brother, Juan Manuel Galán, went further.
“The majority [Medellín cartel’s] “Crimes go unpunished,” he wrote to X. “Along with the thousands of victims, we want to know the truth about the responsibility of Ochoa and his allies in kidnappings, murders, and acts of indiscriminate terrorism.”
Ochoa was deported to Colombia on Monday after serving more than 20 years in prison in the United States for drug trafficking convictions, but was not involved in any murders in Colombia.
The 67-year-old man was fingerprinted at the airport and released after immigration officials ran his name through a database and confirmed that he was not wanted by Colombian authorities.
Ochoa insisted to journalists who crowded around him at Bogota's airport that he had been “framed” by U.S. prosecutors. He added that he paid the price for drug trafficking crimes in Colombia in the early 1990s, when he spent several years in a Colombian prison.
Ochoa was released in 1996, but was arrested again in 1999 and extradited to the United States in 2001 following an indictment in Miami that named him and more than 40 others as part of a drug-smuggling conspiracy.
In 1989, Gonzalo Enrique Rojas was a young boy when his father died on a passenger plane. blown up by the Medellin cartelall 107 people on board were killed.
Mr. Rojas, who currently heads a foundation for victims of the Colombian conflict, said that Mr. Ochoa's return to Colombia was a major reason for his investigation into the incident, including the motive behind the cartel's attack on a plane carrying civilians and the relationship between cartels. He said it would be an opportunity to learn more. They were accompanied by Colombian government officials.
He said Colombian prosecutors should question Ochoa about this incident and other crimes committed by the cartel. He added that his foundation, Columbia with Memory, would also seek to meet with the former cartel boss.
“The years in prison [for cartel leaders] “For us, the victims of the Medellin cartel, it's not really relevant,” Rojas said. “What truly heals pain is justice and truth.”
