Colombian drug lord Fabio Ochoa Vásquez was released from US prison this week after serving 25 years of a 30-year prison sentence. Ochoa is expected to be deported to Colombia in the coming days.
Ochoa was the Miami distributor for Colombia’s infamous Medellín cartel, led by Pablo Escobar (watch the documentary). At its height in the 1980s, the Medellín cartel supplied 80% of the world’s cocaine market. By 1987, Ochoa was included in Forbes’ list of billionaires.
After several years in prison in Colombia, Ochoa was extradited to the US on drug-trafficking charges in 2001. He was also implicated in the 1986 killing of Drug Enforcement Administration informant Barry Seal, the subject of the 2017 film “American Made” starring Tom Cruise. Ochoa’s life was represented in the Netflix TV show “Narcos.”
Colombia is the world’s biggest cocaine producer and exporter, responsible for about 90% of cocaine seized in the US as of 2019. Learn about the trafficking route here (w/video).
