Colombia Seizes 11 Leading Members of Cocaine Cartel
BOGOTA, Colombia — Police captured 11 leading members of the Medellin cocaine cartel in a big operation in central Colombia, the national news agency Colprensa reported Tuesday.
But Colombia’s most-wanted drug baron, Pablo Escobar, once again narrowly escaped a police dragnet, the agency said, quoting a police statement.
Colprensa said 1,500 members of an elite police corps mounted a search for Escobar, boss of the Medellin cartel, in the semi-jungle area around Doradal, east of Medellin.
Police arrested Escobar’s brother-in-law, Hernan Dario Herrera Quintero.
Others detained in the raid included Escobar’s head of security, Carlos Taborda Perez, cartel chemist Jorge Echeverri, Escobar’s personal doctor, Jose David Cortes Mejia, transport chief Julio Javier Betancur and another top aide, Hugo Jaramillo, according to Colprensa.
The report said Escobar narrowly escaped the hunt, fleeing so hurriedly he left behind weapons and some documents.
Escobar, wanted for extradition to the United States, has escaped arrest several times during an 11-month-old government crackdown on Colombia’s powerful cocaine cartels.
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