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Fabio Ochoa Vásquez was a key player in Pablo Escobar's cocaine empire in the 1970s and 1980s. He ran a distribution center for the Medellin cartel headed by the famous drug kingpin from his home base in Miami, Florida. Ochoa Vásquez would help Escobar distribute cocaine from Colombia to the United States.
He was serving a 30-year prison sentence in the US on charges of drug trafficking, conspiracy, and distribution of cocaine since 2003. He completed 25 years of his 30-year prison sentence and was released on Tuesday, December 3, 2024.
Currently, as per a report by CNN, Vásquez is in the custody of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service. He is expected to be deported back to his home country, Colombia.
Meanwhile, Colombia's attorney general's office is investigating whether he has any pending cases in the country.
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Fabio Ochoa Vásquez helped flourish Pablo Escobar's drug trade
Although Escobar is the face of the Medellin cartel that ran a business distributing tonnes of cocaine from Colombia to the US, he did not do this alone. Fabio Ochoa Vásquez was one of the three Ochoa brothers who helped him build his empire.
Unlike Escobar who came from humble beginnings, Fabio Ochoa Vásquez's family was into ranching and horse breeding. He was the youngest of the three Ochoa brothers, the other two being Jorge Ochoa Vásquez and Juan Ochoa Vásquez.
Although all three brothers ran the distribution network, it was Fabio who was considered the chief executive and head of the entire operation.
The Ochoa brothers amassed such a handsome fortune from running the cocaine business besides Escobar that they were named in Forbes magazine's list of billionaires from 1987 to 1992.
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Fabio Ochoa Vásquez's arrest and indictment
Fabio Ochoa Vásquez came under the United States' Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) radar when he was indicted in 1986 for his alleged involvement in the murder of Barry Seal, an informant for the DEA.
Barry's life was portrayed by Tom Cruise in the movie American Made in 2017.
Ochoa Vásquez was then arrested in 1990 in Colombia after the government decided to crack down on drug kingpins through a government program.
In exchange for turning themselves in, the government promised not to extradite them to the US. Therefore, Vásquez took advantage of the deal and turned himself in.
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However, he and his brothers were freed in 1996 after taking a plea deal. During that time, Fabio Ochoa Vásquez was listed as one of America's "Dozen Most Wanted" druglords.
Ochoa Vásquez was arrested again in 2001 in America as a response to an indictment in Miami naming him and more than 40 other people as part of a drug smuggling conspiracy.
As per a BBC report, following his arrest, he erected billboards in Medellin and Bogota that declared, "Yesterday I made a mistake. Today I am innocent."
Prison sentence and seizure of wealth
While the rest of the over 40 people who were arrested for smuggling chose to cooperate with the American government, Fabio Ochoa Vásquez opted to go to trial. This resulted in the other defendants being awarded shorter prison sentences, while Vásquez got a 30-year prison sentence.
His defense attorney at that time, Richard Klugh, argued rather unsuccessfully that his client deserved to be released early because his sentence was lengthier than what was appropriate for how much cocaine the authorities seized and were connected directly to him.
A retired US attorney who served in the prosecution team of Fabio Ochoa Vásquez's trial revealed that not all of his family's earnings from the drug trade were seized by authorities.
After his arrest, the Colombian government seized several properties worth millions of dollars, including several businesses and farms. However, it still wasn't anywhere near his total wealth made from his illegal cocaine trafficking business.
This means that Fabio Ochoa Vásquez will not be penniless when he reaches Colombian shores.
Portrayal in media
Just like Escobar, Fabio Ochoa Vásquez has been often portrayed in several TV shows. Most popularly, he was depicted in the Netflix series Narcos and played by actor Roberto Urbina. The hit show stayed true to Ochoa Vásquez's character. He was also seen in Griselda and Alias El Mexicano.
In Pablo Escobar: El Patrón del Mal, a character named Julio Motoa is based on him.
Stay tuned for more news and updates on Ochoa Vásquez.
