Legendary Medellin cartel drug lord featured in Netflix series 'Narcos' to be released from U.S. prison

By JOSHUA GOODMAN
Updated 8:34 PM CST, December 4, 2024



MIAMI (AP) — One of Colombia’s legendary drug lords and a key operator of the Medellin cocaine cartel has been released from a U.S. prison and is expected to be deported back home.

Records from the U.S. Bureau of Prisons show Fabio Ochoa Vásquez was released Tuesday after completing 25 years of a 30-year prison sentence.

Ochoa, 67, and his older brothers amassed a fortune when cocaine started flooding the U.S. in the late 1970s and early 1980s, according to U.S. authorities, to the point that in 1987 they were included in the Forbes Magazine’s list of billionaires. Living in Miami, Ochoa ran a distribution center for the cocaine cartel once headed by Pablo Escobar.

Although somewhat faded from memory as the center of the drug trade shifted from Colombia to Mexico, he resurfaced in the hit Netflix series “Narcos” true to form as the youngest son of an elite Medellin family into ranching and horse breeding that cut a sharp contrast with Escobar, who came from more humble roots.

Ochoa was first indicted in the U.S. for his alleged role in the 1986 killing of Drug Enforcement Administration informant Barry Seal — whose life was popularized in the 2017 film “American Made” starring Tom Cruise.

More:
https://www.kwtx.com/2024/12/05/legendary-medellin-cartel-drug-lord-featured-netflix-series-narcos-be-released-us-prison/




Estados Unidos libera al colombiano Fabio Ochoa, socio de Pablo Escobar

The United States frees Colombian Fabio Ochoa, partner of Pablo Escobar






Paintings of his partner, Pablo Escobar, as he was slain by Colombian agents:



Death of Pablo Escobar
Fernando Botero
Date: 1999



'Pablo Escobar muerto'
("Pablo Escobar dead" )
Fernando Botero



Fernando Botero, examining his painting.



Fernando Botero, in a forgetful moment!



Fernando Botero!