BOGOTA (Reuters) – Carlos Lehder, former drug trafficker and one of the founding leaders of the Medellin Cartel, was arrested on Friday by Colombian authorities upon his arrival from Germany on a warrant in the Latin American country.
Lehder was sentenced to life plus 135 years in prison in 1988 after a Florida court convicted him of cocaine trafficking.
His sentence was later reduced by 55 years after he testified against former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega, and he was released in 2020 due to health issues.
“Lehder Rivas, who arrived in the country from Frankfurt, presented in our information systems an arrest warrant in force,” Colombia migration authorities said on X, adding that the former drug lord had been handed over to the police.
A video from the migration authority showed Lehder in a suit and tie guarded by several agents.
(Reporting by Nelson Bocanegra; Editing by Gerry Doyle)
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