Carlos Lehder

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Lehder and the second or maternal family name is Rivas.
Carlos Lehder
Mugshot of Carlos Lehder after his extradition in 1987.
Born
Carlos Enrique Lehder Rivas

(1949-09-07) 7 September 1949 (age 75)
Armenia, Colombia
NationalityColombian, German
Other namesEl Loco (The Madman)
Henry Ford of cocaine[1] 'Rambo' González[2]
OccupationDrug trafficker
Criminal statusReleased from prison 16 June 2020, after more than 33 years and 4 months in captivity.
ChildrenDiana Lehder[6]

Maria Del Mar Lehder[6]

Mónica Lehder García (1983)[7][8]
Parent(s)Klaus Wilhelm Rudolf Lehder[3][4]
Helena Rivas[5]
Criminal chargedrug trafficking
PenaltyLife imprisonment plus 135 years; commuted to 55 years in prison
Medellín Cartel

Carlos Enrique Lehder Rivas (born 7 September 1949)[9] is a Colombian and German former drug lord who was co-founder of the Medellín Cartel. Born to a German father and Colombian mother,[10] he was the first high-level drug trafficker extradited to the United States, after which he was released from prison in the United States after 33 years in 2020.[11][12] Originally from Armenia, Colombia, Lehder eventually ran a cocaine transport empire on Norman's Cay island, 210 miles (340 km) off the Florida coast in the central Bahamas.[11][13]

Lehder was one of the founding members of Muerte a Secuestradores ("MAS"), a paramilitary group whose focus was to retaliate against the kidnappings of cartel members and their families[11] by the guerrillas.[14][15][16][17] His motivation to join the MAS was to retaliate against the M-19 guerrilla movement, which, in November 1981, attempted to kidnap him for a ransom; Lehder managed to escape from the kidnappers, though he was shot in the leg.[18] He was one of the most important MAS and Medellin Cartel operators, and is considered to be one of the most important Colombian drug kingpins to have been successfully prosecuted in the United States.

Additionally, Lehder "founded a neo-Nazi political party, the National Latin Movement, whose main function, police said, appeared to be to force Colombia to abrogate its extradition treaty with the United States."[19]

  1. ^ "En fotos: La vida criminal del excapo del narcotráfico Carlos Lehder". 18 June 2020. Archived from the original on 20 May 2024. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
  2. ^ "La historia del narco Ledher, el socio de Pablo Escobar que quedó en libertad". 18 June 2020. Archived from the original on 16 November 2023. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
  3. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 28 August 2023. Retrieved 16 November 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 25 January 2024. Retrieved 12 March 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 20 May 2024. Retrieved 12 March 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. ^ a b "Supuesta libertad de Carlos Ledher fue desmentida desde Armenia". Article from La Crónica del Quindío (in Spanish). Armenia, Colombia. 15 January 2015. Archived from the original on 21 June 2020. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  7. ^ Lehder García, Mónica (4 October 2015). "El peso del apellido Lehder: hija ruega para que el narco no muera en prisión". Los Informantes, TV program from Caracol Televisión (Interview) (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 14 May 2019. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
  8. ^ Lehder García, Mónica (16 June 2020). "Carlos Lehder quedó libre en Alemania, confirma su hija Mónica Lehder". Article from Semana (Interview) (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 17 June 2020. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  9. ^ "Carlos Lehder | Biography, Crimes, Conviction, & Facts". Encyclopedia Britannica. 10 November 2023. Archived from the original on 24 June 2020. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  10. ^ "El narco Carlos Lehder quiere volver a Colombia". BBC. 12 May 2010. Archived from the original on 14 May 2010. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
  11. ^ a b c Lee, Rensselaer W. (1989). The White Labyrinth: Cocaine and Political Power. Transaction Publishers. pp. 5, 11, 14, 106–108, 113, 116. ISBN 1-56000-565-3.
  12. ^ Kelly, Robert J. (2005). Illicit Trafficking: A Reference Handbook. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 1-57607-915-5.
  13. ^ "Drug War (Norman's Cay)". Frontline. Archived from the original on 19 October 2000. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
  14. ^ "El Mundo - Noticias de Medellín, Antioquia, Colombia y el mundo - Periódico El Mundo". www.elmundo.com. Archived from the original on 11 August 2020. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
  15. ^ Tiempo, Casa Editorial El (25 July 2013). "Murió Juan David Ochoa, uno de los fundadores del cartel de Medellín". El Tiempo. Archived from the original on 8 August 2020. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
  16. ^ "Marta Nieves Ochoa, hermana de Fabio Ochoa". www.wradio.com.co. 18 October 2007. Archived from the original on 25 July 2020. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
  17. ^ Espectador, El. "ELESPECTADOR.COM". ELESPECTADOR.COM. Archived from the original on 18 August 2020. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
  18. ^ Astrid Legarda Martínez (2005). El verdadero Pablo: sangre, traición y muerte (in Spanish). Cangrejo. p. 91. ISBN 978-958-97604-7-5. Archived from the original on 20 May 2024. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  19. ^ "Hatred of All Things Yankee Absorbs Lehder". 19 May 1988. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 17 July 2017 – via LA Times.