A drug boss who worked with Pablo Escobar and avoided capture for 15 years was finally apprehended when he took his dog to the veterinarian.
Julio Andres Murillo Figueroa, also known as the Tsar, was wanted for trafficking cocaine from Colombia to Europe.
He is believed to be one of the main figures in a cartel that supplied the Italian mafia, including the feared Ndrangheta, and Mocro Mafia, which operates from the Netherlands.
The Tsar has been on European law enforcement’s radar since a shipment of 1,623 kilos of cocaine was found in 2021 off the coast of Huelva in Spain.
Spanish police said in a statement after Murillo Figueroa’s arrest: ‘He was known by police authorities for having collaborated in the past with a historical leader of (the Medellin Cartel) between the 80s and 90s.’
Murillo Figueroa worked under Escobar in his Medellin Cartel before becoming one of the city’s main dealers following the drug lord’s death in 1993.
He left Europe and returned to his homeland after his middle man was captured in 2022.
His rule ended much more quietly than his former boss’s, with police able to identify him by his distinctive walk while taking his dog to the vet in Cucuta.
Police said in a statement: ‘His visits to a medical center due to his own mobility issues, which led him to use a walking stick, and his frequent trips to a vet for his dog, were two factors that led to his identification.
‘But then H1 disappeared again, before he was seen at another mansion in Antioquia, valued at around £1.5 million, where he was observed taking his dog for a walk by a private lake.’
Pablo Escobar became immensely wealthy overseeing a drug-smuggling empire that spanned from Colombia to a dozen other countries.
He was killed by Colombian police after being trapped on a rooftop while attempting to escape.
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