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Erick Prometeo Media

Seven Colombians Extradited to the United States, Including Mocho Olmedo

Seven Colombians were extradited this Friday to the United States, among them Willington Henao Gutiérrez, alias Mocho Olmedo, the alleged leader of the 33rd…

--- The context --- Seven Colombians were handed over this Friday in extradition to the United States and must formally appear before the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. The transfer, from the Colombian capital, places defendants accused of drug trafficking, money laundering through cryptoassets, conspiracy to commit offences and transnational cyber fraud at the disposal of United States justice. --- The facts --- The group is headed by Willington Henao Gutiérrez, alias Mocho Olmedo, the alleged leader of the 33rd Front of the Farc dissidents and a former peace negotiator, who boarded the United States Marshals Service plane bound for the state of Florida together with six other high-impact criminals. He was captured for extradition purposes on February 12, 2025. His transfer materialized after the Supreme Court of Justice endorsed his judicial dispatch. Months later, in August 2026, the National Government confirmed the final executive extradition resolution and formally withdrew his recognition as a peace manager and negotiator, after he had taken part in the negotiation tables of the so-called Total Peace. In Colombia, the Attorney General's Office charged him with conspiracy to commit offences, homicide of a protected person, forced displacement and illicit recruitment. Investigations place him as an articulator of the 33rd Front's dispute against the ELN and attribute to him the illicit recruitment of 31 minors in Norte de Santander, 31 episodes of forced displacement that forced 84 people to abandon their properties and homes in Tibú and El Tarra, and the homicide of a community leader in the Guachimán village of Tibú. Jorge Eliécer Fuentes Golfo, alias Cholo Banano, captured on February 19, 2025, also departed, alleged to be a main articulator of the illegal scheme and one of those most responsible for financing the Clan del Golfo since the year 2011. Luis Albert Cambindo, alias Chocó or Ñato, captured on May 1, 2024, was a former employee of the Alfonso Bonilla Aragón international airport in Palmira, which serves Cali, and according to the file he used his privileged access to contaminate commercial flights with cocaine shipments, in the service of Tren de Aragua and the extortion band La Inmaculada. The group is completed by Luis Emilio Iguarán Mejía, apprehended on August 14, 2024 for coordinating the logistics of a vessel intercepted 50 nautical miles off the coasts of La Guajira, with 431 kilograms of cocaine hydrochloride seized, and by Luis Felipe Agudelo Maya, Danna Pamela Porras Marín and Andrés Giraldo Ospina, linked to money laundering networks and massive virtual scams. --- The positions --- Colonel Elver Vicente Alfonso Sanabria, director of Criminal Investigation and Interpol, said Mocho Olmedo is wanted by United States authorities for drug trafficking and organized crime offences. The National Police held that, with these seven handovers, through the Dijín and Interpol, it ratifies its commitment to pursuing transnational crime and closing any space for impunity. President Abelardo De La Espriella said Colombia is not a refuge for criminals and warned that drug traffickers, narcoterrorists and money launderers will be pursued relentlessly, inside and outside Colombia, hitting their finances and placing them at the disposal of justice. --- What remains unknown --- The available information does not state the dates of the first hearings in Florida or how each extradited person will answer the charges in the United States. It also does not detail any reparation for the 84 people displaced in Tibú and El Tarra or for the families of the 31 minors recruited in Norte de Santander. --- Unanswered questions --- What reparation will the people displaced in Tibú and El Tarra and the families of the recruited minors receive? How will the cases against the seven extradited people for drug trafficking, money laundering and transnational cyber fraud advance in Florida? What will happen to the structures of the 33rd Front and the Clan del Golfo after the departure of two of their alleged articulators? --- EPM analysis --- The extradition brings together, in a single transfer, distinct fronts of transnational crime: armed dissidents, financing of a clan, contamination of commercial flights, a maritime route with cocaine and laundering networks using virtual currencies and scams. For the communities of Norte de Santander, the central fact remains human: recruited minors and families forced to abandon their homes. 📌 EPM Take: In EPM's view, the handover of the seven Colombians, headed by Willington Henao Gutiérrez, alias Mocho Olmedo, places alleged perpetrators of drug trafficking, recruitment of minors and forced displacement in Norte de Santander before United States justice. The transfer to Florida is a concrete judicial step, but its full value will depend on the cases advancing and on the victims in Tibú and El Tarra, and the families of the 31 minors, receiving effective answers and reparation in Colombia, and on cooperation between Colombia and the United States continuing with verifiable results for public safety and for the communities affected by armed disputes.
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