The top leader of the Rastrojos drug gang, alias “Comba,” has turned himself over to U.S. authorities, Colombian and Spanish media reported Wednesday.
According to reports, Javier Antonio Calle Serna — wanted in the U.S. for drug trafficking — gave himself over to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration after more than a year of negotiations with the U.S. government, following an indictment by a New York court on drug trafficking offenses in June 2011.
Calle Serna ran the drug trafficking organization with his brother Luis Enrique.
According to Spanish newspaper El Mundo, Serna reached several agreements with the U.S. justice system, especially to provide information about their cocaine distribution networks in Europe as well as a list of their organization’s members in exchange for certain privileges, including visas to the U.S. for 16 family members.
“Comba” started out as a fighter in the now-defunct Popular Liberation Army guerrilla group, before becoming an enforcer and hit man for the Norte del Valle Cartel, remnants of which went on to form the Rastrojos.
The Rastrojos have traditionally had a stranglehold over the Pacific Coast drug distribution points and worked closely with the powerful Mexican Sinaloa cartel. The drug organization is considered the most powerful in Colombia.
