A Colombian drug trafficker known as the 'Pablo Escobar of heroin' was captured last month while purchasing tickets for a soccer game.
Carlos Alberto Salazar, known as the 'Lord of the Gown', allegedly shipped 100 kilos of heroin - worth $6.5 million - to the United States annually with the backing of Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman's old Sinaloa Cartel, according to the Drug Enforcement Agency and its Colombian counterpart.
Colombia's National Police Anti-Narcotics Agency apprehended Salazar on January 15 in the western city of Pereira, as he attempted to buy tickets for Colombia's 2020 Olympic qualifying tournament game against Argentina, scheduled for three days later.
Salazar also was tied to the 'La Cordillera' gang that operates in the provinces of Arauca, Risaralda, Cauca and Nariño, the National Police Anti-Narcotics Agency said.
DailyMail.com has reached out to the DEA to confirm whether Salazar will be extradited to the U.S.
'He began his criminal life by sending small amounts of heroin to the United States, thus obtaining economic resources that would lead him to become one of the most important men in criminal organizations', Colombia's anti-drug agency said in a statement.
'After the strong controls exercised by the National Police in the country, 'Lord of the Gown' decided to bring chemical knowledge to process heroin directly from Mexico and take out the product with the same quality that is made in Colombia.'
The Lord of the Gown allegedly brought top chemical engineering students to Colombia to produce the heroin with chemicals that circumvented police detection.
Colombian authorities said Salazar employed fishing vessels and speedboats to deliver the heroin shipments to Central America and the United States.
Salazar reportedly also hired drug mules, and used concealed luggage bags and secret compartments in cars to move the massive quantity of heroin out of Colombia.
The accused drug lord subsequently used his connections with the Sinaloa Cartel to ferry the heroin shipments via numerous routes across the Mexico-United States border.
'It is possible to establish that through this route more than 100 kilos of heroin would enter the United States annually,' Colombia's National Police Anti-Narcotics Agency said. 'Thus being the largest and most important heroin trafficker hitherto known in Colombia.'
This article has been adapted from its original source.
