For the third time in four months, police claimed Thursday to have arrested the leader of the northern Colombian branch of drug gang the Rastrojos.
The suspect, known under the aliases “Johnny,” “Tomas” and “5-5,” was arrested in the north of Medellin little over a month after the arrest of his alleged predecessor just outside Colombia’s second largest city.
Johnny is the third alleged successor of “Sebastian,” the killed commander of the drug trafficking organization in the strategically important Bajo Cauca region.
“Johnny” began his outlaw career in guerrilla movement ELN, but deserted to join the guerrillas’ arch enemies, the paramilitary AUC.
After their official demobilization with the paramilitary organization’s Bloque Central Bolivar, Johnny and Sebastian joined the neo-paramilitary “Paisas” and later the Rastrojos.
