By DPA
Rio de Janeiro : One of the most powerful drug bosses in the world, the Colombian Juan Carlos Ramirez Abadia, was arrested Tuesday in Brazil, Brazilian authorities said in a statement.
Ramirez Abadia, known by the alias “Chupeta,” was arrested early Tuesday morning in a luxury condominium complex in Aldeia da Serra, in the state of Sao Paulo, the Brazilian federal police said. He did not resist arrest, the sources said without giving further details of the operation.
The Colombian is wanted by the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), among others, and is considered the chief of Colombia’s most important cocaine cartel, the North of the Valley Cartel.
According to Brazilian authorities, Ramirez Abadia, 44, is wanted as a suspect for “hundreds of murders in Colombia and the United States, including those of police officers and informants”.
He is also wanted for money laundering and other crimes. The DEA estimated his wealth to be at least $1.8 billion and had offered $5 million for information leading to his capture.
According to US authorities, Ramirez Abadia has been active in the drug trade since 1986. In the 1990s his organization allegedly managed to smuggle tons of cocaine into the United States through its border with Mexico.
He jailed twice in Colombia, but the South American country twice denied his extradition to the United States.
Ramirez Abadia was arrested after a two-and-a-half-year investigation as part of “Operation Farrapos” against international drug traffickers. Brazilian police said they plan to exercise a total of 17 arrest warrants in the states of Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, Parana, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul, in the south and south-east of Brazil.
Brazilian authorities cooperated with Argentina, Uruguay and Spain. Recently Colombian drug bosses allegedly smuggled large quantities of drugs into Europe and the United States, and took the proceeds to be laundered in Brazil via Spain, Mexico and Uruguay.
“The money laundering cycle was completed by the organization by making use of investments in the areas of real estate (hotels and mansions), industry and the purchase of vehicles,” the statement said.
Brazil’s former anti-drug government official Walter Maierovitch said the drug boss also have been attracted to the country because of its supply of chemicals that can be used in drug production.
Brazilian authorities did not say whether Ramirez Abadia is to be tried in Brazil or whether he will be extradited to Colombia or the United States. After his arrest, he was taken to federal police facilities in Sao Paulo.
Colombian Defence Minister Juan Manuel Santos told Colombian media that it was most likely that “Chupeta” would be sent directly to the United States.