Colombia’s neo-paramilitary drug gang “Los Rastrojos” has made more than a billion dollars from narco-trafficking to the United States in the last seven years, newspaper El Espectador reported Wednesday.
According to a report by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, since 2004 the criminal gang has exported thousands of pounds of cocaine, which according to its wholesale value earned the group more than a billion dollars.
Los Rastrojos’ former chief and main money launderer, Gilberto Miranda Rojas, collaborated with Colombian authorities after his May 21 arrest to reveal the organization’s financial gains over the past four years.
During the course of the investigation, it was revealed that Los Rastrojos had close ties with the Mexican drug cartels, which have been responsible for facilitating drug trafficking by sea.
After analyzing the case, a Colombian high court suggested the extradition of Miranda Rojas to the U.S. on charges of drug trafficking and money laundering.
Los Rastrojos is an outgrowth of the Norte de Valle drug trafficking organization that finances itself by buying and processsing cocaine for international distribution throughout Central America and Mexico, according to organized crime website Insight Crime.
