Americas News

Twin brother drug lords: one dead, the other arrested

May 3, 2008, 2:09 GMT

Bogota - Colombia Friday arrested drug baron Miguel Angel Mejia in central Colombia just days after government security forces killed his twin brother, Victor, in a shootout, the authorities said Friday. Together, the Mejias, 48, were known in trafficking circles as 'The Twins,' and they were accused of trafficking cocaine from Colombia into the United States via Mexico. Victor Manuel was killed Tuesday in a shootout with government forces, although the authorities had originally said the dead man was Miguel Angel Mejia. Miguel Angel Mejia was arrested in Honda, in the province of Tolima, when he travelled in hiding inside a freight truck. The truck driver was also arrested. The vehicle had left the town of Puerto Berrio, in the western province of Antioquia, and was apparently headed for Bogota. The operation was carried out by members of an elite commando sent in from the Colombian capital, which also took part in the action that resulted in the killing of his brother. Defence Minister Juan Manuel Santos recalled that the United States government had offered a reward of 5 million dollars for information leading to the arrest or the death of each of the Mejia twins, and noted that it was 'most likely' that Miguel Angel Mejia would be extradited to that country. Speaking at a press conference in the military base of Mariquita, in Tolima, Santos added that the authorities in Bogota will give a reward to the informer who alerted the authorities about the drug baron's movement in the truck. However, he did not reveal the amount of the reward. The minister added that this is a sharp blow to some 20 paramilitary groups that have sprung up in recent months, since the Mejia brothers were thought to control at least half of those groups. According to Santos, Mejia told the officers who arrested him that he had 'lost the battle.' Victor Manuel Mejia and two accomplices were killed in the north- western province of Antioquia Tuesday, after they drew weapons as officers were trying to arrest them. The Mejias were former officials with the United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia who led a drug-trafficking ring made up primarily of members of the paramilitary group who did not join its peace process with the government. Both the Mejia brothers had taken part in the peace talks in 2004, but they abandoned the negotiations two years later, and the government ordered their arrests. According to the US State Department, the brothers began running drugs to the United States and Europe in the late 1990s. By conservative estimates, it said, they transported 68 tonnes of cocaine over a two-year period. A drug bust in 2003 dealt a blow to their organization, resulting in the seizure of 25 tons of cocaine and 43 arrests, the State Department said.

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