Carlos Lehder, an original ‘cocaine cowboy,’ is out after serving a long prison sentence in the U.S. The former Medellin cartel kingpin and partner of Pablo Escobar and was a fan of John Lennon and Adolf Hitler, was released from a US prison on Monday and flew to a new home in Germany.
The notorious Colombian drug lord is now a free man. Carlos Lehder is one of the original “cocaine cowboys” and Pablo Escobar’s crime partner, according to a Miami source.
Lehder set up a transit point for drug-laden aircraft on the island of Norman’s Cay, 210 miles (340km) off the coast of Florida, with the help of corrupt local officials.
Lehder was captured by the Colombian authorities at a farm, allegedly after a tip-off from Escobar, and extradited to the US, which was then leading a campaign against drug traffickers based in Colombia. He was originally sentenced to 135 years plus life, but after agreeing to testify against former Panamanian dictator Gen. Manuel Noriega, he had his sentence reduced to 55 years.
Pablo Escobar (left) and Carlos Lehder (right) at family/cartel outing
Lehder’s lawyer says he caught a plane to his new home in Berlin, Germany on Monday, after being released from a Florida prison. He was being held there as part of the government’s witness protection program.
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If you’ve seen “Narcos” on Netflix, you may have heard the name before. The show highlights Lehder as the co-founder of the Medellin cartel, which dominated the global cocaine trade in the 1980s.
He is a dual German-Colombia citizen. His lawyer says Lehder has no interest in returning to Colombia and German authorities helped him get settled in his new home.
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