A NOTORIOUS Colombian drug lord, nicknamed Don Mario, was sentenced to 35 years in a US prison, authorities said yesterday

Last year, Don Mario, whose real name is Daniel Rendon Herrera, pleaded guilty in a New York court to running a criminal enterprise and conspiring to support a designated terrorist group called the Clan del Golfo (Gulf clan).

The sentence “marks the end of the criminal career of Rendon Herrera,” once the “most feared narco-terrorist in Colombia,” said Breon Peace, prosecutor for the Eastern District of New York.

Rendon Herrera used to be a leader of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, known as AUC, which the US government designated in 2001 as a global terrorism organisation. 

He admitted in court “to providing material support to a designated terrorist organization that brutally killed, kidnapped, and tortured rival drug traffickers and civilians,” the US Justice Department said in a statement.

Rendon Herrera also admitted to having trafficked more than 80 tonnes of cocaine.

In addition to his jail term, Judge Doris Irizarry ordered the capo, who is 57 and from Antioquia department, to pay US$45.7 (RM21.5) million in damages. – AFP, October 18, 2022.