Former Medellín Cartel Member Fabio Ochoa Vásquez Welcomed Upon Return to Colombia After 23 Years
Videos circulating in a restricted WhatsApp group on Monday night showed the warm welcome given to ex-member of the Medellín Cartel, Fabio Ochoa Vásquez, upon his deportation from the U.S. after serving 23 years in prison. Reports suggest that around 100 people were present at the celebration held at one of the haciendas owned by Angela Ochoa, Fabio’s sister and widow of millionaire Alonso Cárdenas Arismendi, who was kidnapped in 1986 and allegedly killed by Pablo Escobar’s men.
While a faction of the criminal underworld claims "Fabito," as the youngest of the Ochoa clan is known, is a man of peace, some still remember the 2012 assassination of Alejandro Bernal Madrigal, alias ‘Juvenal.’ EL TIEMPO revealed that a couple of sicarios gunned down ‘Juvenal’ in a luxury restaurant in Cajicá, just a week after his arrival in Colombia following his U.S. prison release, which he obtained through a reduced sentence in exchange for testifying against ‘Fabito.’
Two versions of ‘Juvenal’s murder circulate—one that he was not forgiven for being the key witness against the younger Ochoa in the ‘Operation Milenio‘ case, and another that he was killed while collecting a commission from a narcotrafficker who used to pay him for every successful drug shipment crowned in Mexico. There, ‘Juvenal’ befriended the powerful capo Amado Carrillo, becoming his compadre.
Where Are the Other Witnesses?
Juvenal was not the only witness who incriminated Fabio Ochoa in a case that the Ochoa clan has long contested as a setup. The ‘Milenio’ operation took place in October 1999, but in 1989, a file on ‘Fabito’ was already opened and then closed; Santiago Vélez Velázquez, alias ‘Negro Vélez,’ was arrested and later released. A well-informed source described Vélez as "a well-connected young man who carried ‘Fabito’s luggage and knew his movements."
Vélez testified against Ochoa in a Miami court on May 20, 2003, revealing that he had acted as an intermediary between the capo and Grupo Arcadia, a Colombian architecture firm used as a front for trafficking cocaine to the U.S. Vélez, who was deported to Colombia in 1997 after serving eight years in a U.S. prison, later appeared on the list of the 30 most wanted druglords in the Operation Milenio. U.S. agents told EL TIEMPO that after testifying against Ochoa, Vélez was allowed to stay in Florida, where he allegedly owns a construction company in Brickell.
In addition to Vélez, another key witness, Héctor Mario Londoño Vásquez, alias ‘Yuca,’ testified against ‘Fabito’ on May 16, 2003. Extradited to the U.S. in 2001 as part of Operation Milenio, Londoño was convicted and sentenced to more than seven years in prison for his role in coordinating cocaine shipments hidden in frozen fruit pulp and pool tables between 1998 and 1999. According to authorities, Londoño was responsible for overseeing drug acquisitions in Medellín andtheir subsequent shipment abroad disguised as legitimate cargo.
Other key witnesses in the case include Leo Arreguin, the former director of the DEA in Colombia, and agent Mark Naper, both of whom participated in Operation Milenio. Two police officers, Federico Arias López and María Luisa Restrepo, also testified. Restrepo provided the 1,200 audio cassettes to the prosecution that were used to implicate Ochoa.
Currently, Fabio Ochoa, who remained neutral during the Medellín and Cali cartels’ war, is being guarded by his own family. The fate of the other witnesses is unknown.
