Carlos Lehder, former drug trafficker and one of the founding leaders of the Medellin Cartel, was arrested on Friday by Colombian authorities upon his arrival from Germany on a warrant in the Latin American country.
UPDATE: Carlos Lehder was released from detention in Colombia. A judge determined that Colombian authorities convicted Lehder for drug trafficking in 1995, while he was serving the separate sentence at a US prison. The cartel boss was sentenced to 24 years in prison in Colombia, meaning his sentence expired in 2019, according to Colombian law.
Lehder had not returned to Colombia since his extradition to the United States in 1987. His lawyer, Sondra Macollins, said he was attempting to visit relatives when he arrived Friday.
Lehder was sentenced to life plus 135 years in prison in 1988 after a Florida court convicted him of cocaine trafficking.
His sentence was later reduced by 55 years after he testified against former Panamanian Dictator Manuel Noriega, and he was released in 2020 due to health issues. He had been living in Germany since then, releasing an autobiographical book last year.
“Lehder Rivas, who arrived in the country from Frankfurt, presented in our information systems an arrest warrant in force,” Colombia migration authorities said on X, adding that the former drug lord had been handed over to the police.
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