Notorious cocaine cartel chief has been launched from jail after 25 years
One of the world’s most feared drug lords has been released from prison in the US and is expected to be making his way back to his home country of Columbia.
Fabio Ochoa Vásquez was released earlier this week after serving 25 years inside for drug related crimes. The cartel member was hugely feared and managed to amass a huge fortune after he supposedly had a huge hold over the cocaine market in Columbia. Records from the US Bureau of Prisons reveal that he only served 25 years of his 30 year sentence.
Ochoa, 67, made his fortune in the late 1970s and 1980s along with his brother. They racked up so much cash in the US, Ochoa made Forbes Magazine’s list of billionaires.
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![Fabio Ochoa](https://i2-prod.dailystar.co.uk/incoming/article34255379.ece/ALTERNATES/s615b/0_FILES-This-13-October-1999-file-photo.jpg)
(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
The criminal lived in Miami and ran a distribution centre which used to be part of the cocaine empire ran by Pablo Escobar. More recently, he was portrayed in the Netflix hit show Narcos.
The drug empire was said to shift more into Mexico over Columbia, but Ochoa featured in the show true to form. They showed him as the youngest son of an elite Medellin family, who were into horse breeding from a wealthy background – different from Escobar, who came from more humble roots.
Ochoa first ran into trouble for his alleged role in the 1986 crack down programme. They promised drug kingpins would not be extradited to the US. At the time, he was on the list of the “Dozen Most Wanted” Colombia drug lords.
![Fabio Ochoa](https://i2-prod.dailystar.co.uk/incoming/article34255384.ece/ALTERNATES/s615b/0_FABIO-OCHOA-VASQUEZ.jpg)
(Image: AP)
He was again arrested in 2001 as several drug smugglers were revealed in a huge police investigation. Ochao was identified along 40 others, but he was the only one to come forward and volunteer to go to trial.
This court appearance led to his eventual sentencing, with led to him being locked up for 30 years. The other suspects got away with much lighter sentences because most of them cooperated with the government, with Ochoa did not.
Legal officials say his drug inventory was never fully seized, with some of his contraband still out there, as well as ex-associates. “He won’t be retiring a poor man, that’s for sure,” Richard Gregorie, a retired assistant U.S. attorney, told The Associated Press.
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