A drug lord awaiting extradition to the United States donned a prison guard uniform and walked out of a Colombian maximum security prison on Friday thanks to a $5 million release card.
Juan Castro, allegedly the “second in command” of the multinational Colombian cartel Gulf Clan, was caught on camera slipping out of La Picota prison in Bogota, Colombia, without incident last week.
Dressed as a prison guard, he walked through seven doors, including one left open by National Prison and Prison Institute Inspector Milton Jimenez.
Jimenez was arrested without incident on Friday for his alleged involvement in the scheme and is due to stand trial on Tuesday.
He could face up to 12 years in prison if found guilty of helping Castro escape.
Prison director Juan Gordillo, his assistant and 55 guards were also suspended after a daring incident in broad daylight.
Juan Castro, considered the second leader of the Gulf clan, escaped from prison in Bogotá, Colombia on Friday. Colombian authorities have suspended the director of the prison, the assistant director and 55 prison guards. Castro awaiting extradition to the US
Security camera shows Colombian cartel leader Juan Castro walking through the prison door during his escape.
La Picota prison director (pictured) Juan Gordillo, an assistant director and 55 guards were suspended after the escape of Colombian cartel leader Juan Castro.
Castro’s escape comes almost a month after Colombian authorities thwarted a similar plot by the Gulf clan and other Mexican cartels to get Gulf clan leader Dario Usuga out of prison and avoid his extradition to the United States.
Castro was arrested in May 2021 and is facing drug trafficking and money laundering charges in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
An advance report received by the Colombian newspaper El Tiempo indicates that Castro was not in his jail cell at 11:00 pm on Thursday evening.
Castro was reportedly in one of the courtyards of the prison complex, where he is believed to have worked out the details of his daring escape, and returned to his cell at around 00:30.
He then changed into a prison guard’s uniform and left the cell, accompanied by Jiménez, who led him past five checkpoints.
Colombian cartel Juan Castro may have fled Bogotá, authorities say
Gulf clan leader Dario Osugu was arrested by Colombian security forces in October 2021 (above). He was awaiting extradition to the US
Investigators found that some of the security cameras were not working as Castro walked to the exit doors. One of the live cameras showed him looking down at the ground to hide his face from detection. Castro, who had a mobile phone, was not ordered to identify himself at two checkpoints he passed before leaving prison.
The authorities did not rule out that Castro could have fled from Bogota or even Colombia by plane.
Castro has been involved with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and several other paramilitaries since the age of 16. He was arrested at least 12 times and escaped from prison twice.
Juan Castro was arrested on May 7, 2021 in Santander, Colombia. He escaped from a Bogotá prison on Friday.
In 2018, he devised a plan that would allow him to serve the rest of his time in home confinement, claiming he was very ill.
As part of a plan to stay under the radar, he faked his death on December 13, 2018 and became one of the top leaders of the Gulf clan in the southern region of Nariño.
In 2019, drug enforcement investigators discovered that Castro had become the leader of the Cordillera Sur, a Gulf clan cell.
His gang of drug dealers was allegedly linked to the National Liberation Army, dissidents from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, as well as the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, two of the most powerful criminal organizations in Mexico that also turned out to be violent. rivals.
Castro was charged with murder, extortion and illegal possession of firearms in Colombia.
As a result of his defection, President Ivan Duque announced a “comprehensive reform of Colombia’s penitentiary and penitentiary system” in the wake of corruption scandals involving the National Institute of Penitentiaries and Prisons.
Earlier this month, the Colombian government fired a prison warden and director of the country’s largest prison for unusual exit permits issued to businessman Carlos Mattos, who was arrested on charges of paying bribes in a lawsuit with a South Korean automaker. , Hyundai.
Mattos was twice seen leaving La Picota Prison in a National Penitentiary and Prison Institute vehicle in videos obtained by Caracol. He was seen walking unguarded and entering the building where his office was located.
“The system cannot continue to behave like this without demonstrative sanctions,” Duque said on Friday.
The Gulf clan is considered the largest drug trafficking group in Colombia.
The organization has about 1,600 fighters and is engaged in the production and trafficking of cocaine, as well as illegal mining.
The Colombian government accuses the cartel of threatening and killing local activists known as community leaders in the country.