Eduardo Restrepo Victoria
Encyclopedia
Eduardo Restrepo Victoria alias "El Socio" (the Associate) (born September 29, 1958 in Pitalito
, Huila
) is a Colombia
n drug trafficker former member of the Norte del Valle Cartel
and associate of Wilber Varela
. Restrepo was wanted by Colombian authorities on charges of illegal drug trade
, illicit enrichment and illegal arms possession. He was captured by Colombian and United States authorities on July 25, 2006 On July 20, 2006 the United States
government asked for his extradition. He was extradited to the United States on December 10, 2007.
in the Department of Huila
in central Colombia to a family of peasants workers. Most of his early life was spent working on rice fields in Lérida
, Department of Tolima after migrating for better luck. In Lérida, Restrepo met important rice producers who employed him, including associates of Diego León Montoya Sánchez
, and worked in hacienda
s that had airstrips in Espinal
, Ibague
and Venadillo
. He became a sort of air controller for flights used by the mafia of the Norte del Valle Cartel
back then led by Montoya-Sánchez, among others.
accounts, after being introduced to the illegal drug trade
Restrepo began to manage properties of another drug baron, Henry Loaiza Ceballos
aka "El Alacran". Loaiza sent him to Mexico
in 1995 where he established contacts with the Mexican Drug Cartel ; the Juarez Cartel
led by Amado Carrillo Fuentes
aka "El Senor de los Cielos". In Mexico Restrepo massed a fortune by controlling drug flow and the contacts between the Colombian and Mexican mafias.
aka "Jabón" another boss of the Nortel del Valle Cartel.
In 2001 the then governor of the Department of Tolima Guillermo Alfonso Jaramillo alerted authorities about his behavior and eccentricities. Restrepo then went clandestine.
On August 25, 2005 4 witnesses testified against Restrepo alleging that he had links to mafias and to paramilitary groups associated to the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia
; the Tolima Bloc. Witnesses mentioned that Restrepo and partner Wílber Varela had been planning to purchase part of the paramilitary unit.
's unit raided one of Restrepo's properties in the outskirts of Ibague with an arrest warrant for delinquency, production and traffic and porting unauthorized firearms.
On Sunday July 23, 2006 the Colombian National Police
intercepted a phone call of Restrepo calling a family member asking him to appeal to two businessmen from the Department of Tolima to lend him the farm Andalucia, located in the municipality of Subachoque
, Department of Cundinamarca
.
On July 25, 2006 the Colombian National Police intelligence unit DIJIN raided the farm and found him with one more person along with his two daughters and two men.
When inquired by the Colombian Attorney General's office Restrepo answered "I've never worked with drugs". He also denied knowing anyone named Wilber Alirio Varela. He denied the testimony given by his former body guard Robinson Guilombo which linked him to the Norte del Valle Cartel. Guilombo is under the protection of the DEA
and Attorney General's units.
through a company named Agropecuaria Palma del Río which was based in Ibague and in 2005 was included in the Office of Foreign Assets Control
's specially designated nationals list of the United States Department of the Treasury
. Another syndicated money-launderer was pointed out by his bodyguard as Gustavo Adolfo Villanueva along one of his sisters and a former lover.
On September 7, 2005 the Colombian National Police raided and confiscated 65 properties belonging to Restrepo in Bogotá
, Cali
and the Department of Tolima.
Pitalito
Pitalito is a town and municipality in the Huila Department, Colombia. Its population is 103,850.-External links:*...
, Huila
Huila Department
Huila is one of the departments of Colombia. It is located in the southwest of the country, and its capital is Neiva.-Geography:The south of the department is located in the Colombian Massif...
) is a Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
n drug trafficker former member of the Norte del Valle Cartel
Norte del Valle Cartel
The Norte del Valle Cartel, or North Valley Cartel, is a drug cartel that operates principally in the north of the Valle del Cauca department of Colombia...
and associate of Wilber Varela
Wilber Varela
Wilber Alirio Varela Fajardo aka Jabón was a former Colombian Police agent who then became a drug dealer and member of the Norte del Valle Cartel...
. Restrepo was wanted by Colombian authorities on charges of illegal drug trade
Illegal drug trade in Colombia
Illegal drug trade in Colombia refers to the practice of producing and distributing illegal drugs with psychoactive effects in Colombia. Colombia has had four major drug trafficking cartels which eventually created a new social class and influenced several aspects of Colombian culture...
, illicit enrichment and illegal arms possession. He was captured by Colombian and United States authorities on July 25, 2006 On July 20, 2006 the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
government asked for his extradition. He was extradited to the United States on December 10, 2007.
Early years
Restrepo was born and raised in the outskirts of PitalitoPitalito
Pitalito is a town and municipality in the Huila Department, Colombia. Its population is 103,850.-External links:*...
in the Department of Huila
Huila Department
Huila is one of the departments of Colombia. It is located in the southwest of the country, and its capital is Neiva.-Geography:The south of the department is located in the Colombian Massif...
in central Colombia to a family of peasants workers. Most of his early life was spent working on rice fields in Lérida
Lérida, Tolima
Lérida is a town and municipality in the Tolima department of Colombia. The population of the municipality was 20,153 as of the 1993 census....
, Department of Tolima after migrating for better luck. In Lérida, Restrepo met important rice producers who employed him, including associates of Diego León Montoya Sánchez
Diego Leon Montoya Sanchez
Diego León Montoya Sánchez , also known as Don Diego, is a former Colombian crime boss leader of the Norte del Valle drug cartel...
, and worked in hacienda
Hacienda
Hacienda is a Spanish word for an estate. Some haciendas were plantations, mines, or even business factories. Many haciendas combined these productive activities...
s that had airstrips in Espinal
Espinal
Espinal is a town and municipality in the Tolima department of Colombia. The population of the municipality was 63,859 as of the 1993 census.The town is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Espinal....
, Ibague
Ibagué
Ibagué is the capital of the department of Tolima in Colombia. It is situated 1,285 m above sea level, on the eastern slopes of the Cordillera Central between the Chipalo and Combeima rivers, tributaries of the Coello River...
and Venadillo
Venadillo
Venadillo is a town and municipality in the Tolima department of Colombia. The population of the municipality was 15,128 as of the 1993 census....
. He became a sort of air controller for flights used by the mafia of the Norte del Valle Cartel
Norte del Valle Cartel
The Norte del Valle Cartel, or North Valley Cartel, is a drug cartel that operates principally in the north of the Valle del Cauca department of Colombia...
back then led by Montoya-Sánchez, among others.
Drug trafficking
According to Colombian National PoliceColombian National Police
The National Police of Colombia is the national police force of Colombia. Although the National Police is not part of the Military of Colombia , it constitutes along with them the "Public Force" and is also controlled by the Ministry of Defense. They are the largest police force in Colombia...
accounts, after being introduced to the illegal drug trade
Illegal drug trade in Colombia
Illegal drug trade in Colombia refers to the practice of producing and distributing illegal drugs with psychoactive effects in Colombia. Colombia has had four major drug trafficking cartels which eventually created a new social class and influenced several aspects of Colombian culture...
Restrepo began to manage properties of another drug baron, Henry Loaiza Ceballos
Henry Loaiza Ceballos
Henry Loaiza-Ceballos aka El Alacran was a Colombian drugdealer part of the Cali Cartel. Loaiza was in charge mainly of the military apparatus of the organization, but was also involved in the shipment of drugs...
aka "El Alacran". Loaiza sent him to Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
in 1995 where he established contacts with the Mexican Drug Cartel ; the Juarez Cartel
Juárez Cartel
The Juárez Cartel , also known as the Vicente Carrillo Fuentes Organization, is a Mexican drug cartel based in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico, across the border from El Paso, Texas...
led by Amado Carrillo Fuentes
Amado Carrillo Fuentes
Amado Carrillo Fuentes , was a Mexican drug lord who seized control of the Juárez Cartel after assassinating his boss Rafael Aguilar Guajardo. Amado Carrillo became known as "El Señor de Los Cielos" because of the large fleet of jets he used to transport drugs...
aka "El Senor de los Cielos". In Mexico Restrepo massed a fortune by controlling drug flow and the contacts between the Colombian and Mexican mafias.
Return to Colombia
Restrepo returned to Colombia in late 2000 and began a purchase spree of haciendas,nightclubs, commercial establishments, office buildings and luxury apartments and vehicles. He also associated with Wílber Alirio VarelaWilber Varela
Wilber Alirio Varela Fajardo aka Jabón was a former Colombian Police agent who then became a drug dealer and member of the Norte del Valle Cartel...
aka "Jabón" another boss of the Nortel del Valle Cartel.
In 2001 the then governor of the Department of Tolima Guillermo Alfonso Jaramillo alerted authorities about his behavior and eccentricities. Restrepo then went clandestine.
On August 25, 2005 4 witnesses testified against Restrepo alleging that he had links to mafias and to paramilitary groups associated to the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia
United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia
The United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia was created as an umbrella organization of regional far-right...
; the Tolima Bloc. Witnesses mentioned that Restrepo and partner Wílber Varela had been planning to purchase part of the paramilitary unit.
Arrest
In 2004 an Attorney GeneralAttorney General of Colombia
The Office of the Attorney General of Colombia is the Colombian institution part of the Colombian judicial branch of Government with administrative autonomy designed to prosecute offenders, investigate crimes, review judicial processes and accuse penal law infractions against judges and courts of...
's unit raided one of Restrepo's properties in the outskirts of Ibague with an arrest warrant for delinquency, production and traffic and porting unauthorized firearms.
On Sunday July 23, 2006 the Colombian National Police
Colombian National Police
The National Police of Colombia is the national police force of Colombia. Although the National Police is not part of the Military of Colombia , it constitutes along with them the "Public Force" and is also controlled by the Ministry of Defense. They are the largest police force in Colombia...
intercepted a phone call of Restrepo calling a family member asking him to appeal to two businessmen from the Department of Tolima to lend him the farm Andalucia, located in the municipality of Subachoque
Subachoque
Subachoque is a municipality and town of Colombia in the department of Cundinamarca....
, Department of Cundinamarca
Cundinamarca Department
- Origin of the name :The name of Cundinamarca comes from Kundur marqa, an indigenous expression, probably derived from Quechua. Meaning "Condor's Nest", it was used in pre-Columbian times by the natives of the Magdalena Valley to refer to the nearby highlands....
.
On July 25, 2006 the Colombian National Police intelligence unit DIJIN raided the farm and found him with one more person along with his two daughters and two men.
When inquired by the Colombian Attorney General's office Restrepo answered "I've never worked with drugs". He also denied knowing anyone named Wilber Alirio Varela. He denied the testimony given by his former body guard Robinson Guilombo which linked him to the Norte del Valle Cartel. Guilombo is under the protection of the DEA
Drug Enforcement Administration
The Drug Enforcement Administration is a federal law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Justice, tasked with combating drug smuggling and use within the United States...
and Attorney General's units.
Properties
According to Colombian authorities Restrepo has some 900 properties in Colombian and Mexico. His two sisters Teresa and Norma served him as money-launderers, and racketeeredRacket (crime)
A racket is an illegal business, usually run as part of organized crime. Engaging in a racket is called racketeering.Several forms of racket exist. The best-known is the protection racket, in which criminals demand money from businesses in exchange for the service of "protection" against crimes...
through a company named Agropecuaria Palma del Río which was based in Ibague and in 2005 was included in the Office of Foreign Assets Control
Office of Foreign Assets Control
The Office of Foreign Assets Control is an agency of the United States Department of the Treasury under the auspices of the Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence. OFAC administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions based on U.S...
's specially designated nationals list of the United States Department of the Treasury
United States Department of the Treasury
The Department of the Treasury is an executive department and the treasury of the United States federal government. It was established by an Act of Congress in 1789 to manage government revenue...
. Another syndicated money-launderer was pointed out by his bodyguard as Gustavo Adolfo Villanueva along one of his sisters and a former lover.
On September 7, 2005 the Colombian National Police raided and confiscated 65 properties belonging to Restrepo in Bogotá
Bogotá
Bogotá, Distrito Capital , from 1991 to 2000 called Santa Fé de Bogotá, is the capital, and largest city, of Colombia. It is also designated by the national constitution as the capital of the department of Cundinamarca, even though the city of Bogotá now comprises an independent Capital district...
, Cali
Calì
Calì, also written in English as Cali, is an Italian surname, widespread mainly in the Ionian side of Sicily.For the surname Calì is assumed the origin of the Greek word kalos , or from its Sanskrit root kali, "time."The surname refers to:...
and the Department of Tolima.