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Colombia drug baron arrested in Spain
Spain arrests Palencia Gonzalez, wanted by Colombia over charges of murders, drug smuggling and extortion.
10 November 2013, 12:00am
Staff Reporter
Staff Reporter
1 min read
Cipriam Manuel Palencia Gonzalez, the notorious leader of the Urabenos gang, has been apprehended and detained in Madrid while planning new drug routes to Spain, Spanish police authorities said.
Gonzalez, 34, is wanted for a string of crimes including the murder of a police officer in Colombia. In 2009 he absconded after breaking out of jail in Colombia. Gonzalez was wounded in a police raid earlier this year. Six members of the gang were detained in the raid and a police captain was killed.
The Colombian escaped, travelling first to Venezuela and then to Brazil before flying to Madrid in recent days under an assumed name, a police statement said. An international arrest warrant issued by Interpol warned that he could be armed and dangerous. Gonzalez, also known as Visaje, is accused of drug smuggling, extortion and ordering the murder of police officers
The Urabenos gang he alleged headed was partly formed by members of old paramilitary groups that were established in the 1980s to tackle left-wing guerrillas during Colombia's long civil war. Colombian authorities have reportedly linked his gang to 52 murders.
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The poor man didn't make it on time to buy a Maltese passport and a new identity. If only Joseph Muscat had been more efficient and quick to attract "talent" this rich Columbian would have been safe and able to invest in Malta.
