BREAKING NEWS: Major cocaine trafficker arrested in Colombia

A major drug lord responsible for supplying cocaine to European gangs was arrested in Colombia in a joint operation with Spanish police, authorities in both countries said on Saturday.

Julio Andres Murillo Figueroa, 49, was detained on March 1 in his luxury villa in the region of Antioquia under an arrest warrant from Spain.

The suspect is “presumed to be directly responsible for the operations of the (Medellin) cartel in Europe and the cartel’s contact with the ‘Ndrangheta and Mocro Maffia criminal organisations,” Spanish police said.

The ‘Ndrangheta is a Calabrian criminal group from southern Italy and the Mocro Maffia is a largely Moroccan gang.

Together, they control much of the cocaine trade through the ports of Antwerp and Rotterdam in Belgium and the Netherlands respectively.

Colombian police said Figueroa, also known as H-1 or El Zar (“The Tsar”), was considered the main supplier to Jonas Sture Falk, known as the “Swedish Pablo Escobar”, and had direct links to the Gulf Clan, Colombia’s largest drug cartel.

Spain is one of the key entry points for cocaine to Europe given its close ties with South America, where the drug is produced.

Spanish authorities seized eight tonnes of the white powder arriving from Suriname in February and 9.5 tonnes in a container from Ecuador in August 2023.