3 arrested as Colombia investigates drug cartel's recruitment of retired army officers

[Judi Lynn]

Source: International Herald Tribune/Associated Press

3 arrested as Colombia investigates drug cartel's recruitment of retired army officers
The Associated Press
Published: July 26, 2007

BOGOTA, Colombia: Colombian investigators have arrested three people allegedly involved in recruiting recently retired army officers to work for the country's largest drug cartel, authorities said Thursday.

The allegations are an embarrassment to an army receiving hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. aid for arms and training to fight the world's largest heroine and cocaine industry.

The three arrested include a secretary in the army's central human resources office in Bogota, said a member of the federal prosecutor's office who was not authorized to speak publicly about the case. The secretary allegedly passed on the resumes of recently retired army officers to a former sergeant working for the Norte del Valle cocaine cartel.

The retired sergeant, who like the others was arrested in June, is accused of head hunting candidates to train hit men and run security operations for one of Colombia's largest traffickers, Diego Montoya. Known as "Don Diego", Montoya sits on the FBI's ten most-wanted list and is described as a leader of the Norte del Valle cartel.



Read more: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/07/26/america/LA-GEN-Colombia-Cartel-Recruits.php

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The military officers' new, full time boss:





"Don Diego," (Diego Montoya) shown celebrating
with Argentinian soccer star, Diego Maradona.
"Don Diego" is the "man" in the lower circle of
the photograph.

Your tax dollars at work, helping to pay the salaries of these clowns until they can get on the death squad payrolls FULL TIME and really start making some money.

[Judi Lynn]

1. One of the leaders of the Norte del Valle drug cartel, "Don Hugo:"

Colombian drug suspect captured after a shootout

'DON HUGO': Eugenio Montoya, believed to be a top member of the Norte del Valle drug cartel, was arrested after a four-hour shootout with the police

Wednesday, Jan 17, 2007
A suspected leader of Colombia's biggest drug cartel was captured following a shootout with police, ending a years-long manhunt in which US authorities had offered a US$5 million reward for his arrest.

Eugenio Montoya, who also goes by the alias "Don Hugo," is believed to be a top member of the Norte del Valle drug cartel, which the FBI lists on its Web site as the "most powerful and violent drug-trafficking organization in Colombia."

"I'm here to resolve my situation. I am not a drug trafficker," were the only words Montoya said as he was presented to journalists on Monday, surrounded by heavily armed police.

Together with his older brother Diego Montoya -- the alleged mastermind of the cartel, which operates near the southern city of Cali -- he is wanted for extradition by a US federal court in Miami for smuggling hundreds of tonnes of cocaine into the US.

More:
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2007/01/17/2003345164

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Colombian Police Arrest Drug Kingpin

Monday, January 15, 2007

A reputed drug kingpin was captured Monday following a shootout, police said, ending a years-long hunt for a man wanted by American officials for allegedly smuggling tons of cocaine into the United States.

Eugenio Montoya Sanchez is believed by authorities to be a leader of the Norte del Valle drug cartel, which the FBI lists on its Web site as the "most powerful and violent drug-trafficking organization in Colombia."
(snip)

The Norte del Valle cartel became Colombia's most powerful after the dismantling of the Medellin and Cali cartels in the 1980s and early 90s. Officials believe it is responsible for as much as 30 percent of the more than 550 tons of Colombian cocaine smuggled each year to the United States.

To protect its valuable drug routes, the cartel is believed to have worked closely with right-wing death squads whose umbrella organization, the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, is listed as a terrorist organization by Washington.

More:
http://www.townhall.com/news/world/2007/01/15/colombian_police_arrest_drug_kingpin