Top Colombian Drug Lord Arrested

Via the BBC:  Colombia drug lord ‘Sebastian’ arrested

Colombian police have arrested one of the country’s main drug lords, Erikson Vargas, who is also known as Sebastian.

He was the head of an underworld organisation called the "Office of Envigado", based in the Medellin area of northwestern Colombia.

[…]

President Juan Manuel Santos described the arrest in Antioquia province as "a superblow to crime."

And not just a superblow, but the chance for a corny Olympics-related tweet:

"A triple jump against that criminal network and a gold medal for the police for the arrest of alias Sebastian," Mr Santos said in a message on Twitter.

I guess they stuck the landing.

At any rate, the organization in question is a legacy of Pablo Escobar’s infamous Medellin cartel.  Pointing that out, of course, underscores that arresting (or killing) the leader of an organization does not make said organization go away.

FILED UNDER: Latin America, Policing, World Politics, , , , ,
Steven L. Taylor
About Steven L. Taylor
Steven L. Taylor is a Professor of Political Science and a College of Arts and Sciences Dean. His main areas of expertise include parties, elections, and the institutional design of democracies. His most recent book is the co-authored A Different Democracy: American Government in a 31-Country Perspective. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas and his BA from the University of California, Irvine. He has been blogging since 2003 (originally at the now defunct Poliblog). Follow Steven on Twitter