Fabio Ochoa Vásquez, one of Colombia’s most notorious drug lords and a significant figure in the Medellin cocaine cartel, has been released from federal prison in the U.S. and is anticipated to be deported back to Colombia.
According to records from the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, Ochoa was released on Tuesday after serving 25 years of a 30-year sentence. At 67 years old, he and his brothers built a substantial fortune during the influx of cocaine into the U.S. in the late 1970s and early 1980s, earning a spot on Forbes Magazine’s list of billionaires in 1987. While residing in Miami, Ochoa operated a distribution center for the cartel once led by Pablo Escobar.
Although his notoriety faded as the drug trade shifted from Colombia to Mexico, Ochoa gained renewed attention through the hit Netflix series “Narcos,” which portrayed him as the youngest son of an elite Medellin family involved in ranching and horse breeding—contrasting with Escobar’s more humble origins.
Ochoa was first indicted in the U.S. for his alleged involvement in the 1986 murder of Drug Enforcement Administration informant Barry Seal, whose life inspired the 2017 film “American Made,” starring Tom Cruise.
Initially arrested in Colombia in 1990 under a government program that promised drug kingpins would not be extradited to the U.S., Ochoa was found on the U.S. list of the “Dozen Most Wanted” Colombian drug lords. However, he was later arrested again and extradited to the U.S. in 2001 following an indictment in Miami that implicated him and over 40 others in a drug smuggling conspiracy. Ochoa chose to stand trial while the other defendants cooperated with authorities and received lighter sentences.
Richard Gregorie, a retired Assistant U.S. Attorney from the prosecution team that convicted Ochoa, remarked that law enforcement never managed to seize all of the Ochoa family’s illicit drug profits. He expects Ochoa’s return home will be welcomed, stating, “He won’t be retiring a poor man, that’s for sure.”
Ochoa’s Miami-based attorney, Richard Klugh, declined to comment. Throughout years of legal battles, he argued unsuccessfully for early release, stating that Ochoa’s sentence was excessively harsh compared to the amount of seized cocaine linked to him.
Credit: ABC News
