Daniel Rendon Herrera, a.k.a. “Don Mario,” had been a leader in the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC) - a designated foreign terrorist organization - from the late 1990’s until his capture by Colombian National Police and extradition to the United States in 2009.
“With today’s guilty plea, Rendon Herrera, who was once the most feared narco-terrorist in Colombia, admitted to leading one of the world’s largest and most violent drug cartels and flooding the streets of America with cocaine,” said Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.
“Herrera also admitted to providing material support to a designated terrorist organization that brutally killed, kidnapped, and tortured rival drug traffickers and civilians,” he added.
Don Mario was also the founder and leader of the Los Urabeños Drug Trafficking Organization (Los Urabeños), a Colombian right-wing paramilitary group that is effectively a successor to the narco-terrorist AUC.
Los Urabeños have long been involved in the Colombian conflict, a 57-year-long three-way war between the Colombian military with support from allied nations, far-right paramilitary groups, and far-left guerrilla groups.
A large proponent of the Colombian conflict has been the war on drugs. The AUC, for example, imposed taxes on all multi-ton cartel cocaine shipments passing through their territory bound for the United States in order to fund their political and terrorist objectives, according to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).
As a leader of such a narco-terrorist organization, Herrera was also involved in the kidnapping, torture, and murder of its victims, who were both innocent civilians as well as rival drug traffickers, according to the DOJ.
Reportedly, Los Urabeños employ “sicarios,” or hitmen, who specialize in various violent acts such as murders, assassinations, and kidnappings to the benefit of the narco-terrorist entity.
Such reasons can include exerting Los Urabeños’ control and expansion of the illicit drug trade, maintaining organizational discipline, and augmenting their reputation and foothold over Colombian territory.
By the time of his capture in 2009, Don Mario reportedly oversaw 16 “bloques,” or territories, across Colombia and commanded thousands of armed paramilitary fighters, according to the DOJ.
Efforts at implementing a peaceful solution to the Colombian conflict have so far met with failure.
In 2006, the AUC was on the verge of demobilization as part of Colombia’s Justice and Peace process, a proposal in which paramilitary and guerrilla groups would surrender to the government, dismantle their criminal operations, and relinquish their criminal assets in exchange for lenient sentences and immunity from extradition to the United States.
Refusing to submit, however, Herrera re-mobilized his AUC forces under a new flag as Los Urabeños and the conflict continued.
“Don Mario’s guilty plea has left footprints for other drug kingpins to follow,” stated DEA Special Agent-in-Charge Ray Donovan. “This notorious founder and leader of Clan Usaga [Los Urabeños] is facing the consequences of his billion-dollar cocaine empire that spread fear, drug addiction, and death throughout Colombia and the United States.”
Herrera faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in prison and up to life imprisonment. In addition to his time behind bars, he is also expected to forfeit an amount in excess of US$45 million.
Herrera also faces sentences in Colombia for convictions relating to numerous murders as well as weapons and narco-trafficking offences. These sentences reportedly will not be served until the completion of his incarceration period in the United States, according to the DOJ.
