Griselda archives: Cocaine dirty money affords foreign brutal killers luxury in Miami
Luis Garcia-Blanco, a Cuban who had arrived in Miami on the Mariel boatlift, was accused of shooting his ex-girlfriend Maricel Gutierrez in the head with a machine gun in 1980, in Miami-Dade. He had allegedly also cut off her finger and kept it in a Bible.
Griselda archives: War on drugs leaves trail of cold case cases in Miami-Dade
When an assassin in Miami-Dade killed Oscar Piedrahita — who had allegedly betrayed Colombian cocaine trafficker Griselda Blanco — he used a submachine gun. The hitman put more bullets in Piedrahita’s garage door than he put in him.
Griselda archives: Colombian mothers face true cost of cocaine business after families turn into crime rings
Federal agents with the Drug Enforcement Agency waited for guests to arrive for a baby shower at a restaurant in Miami’s Little Havana. When they moved in to arrest a woman, two men who were near her ran away holding cases for what appeared to be a violin and a guitar.
Griselda archives: Cocaine wars in Miami came with wild-west-style shootouts amid competition for crown
In northern Bogotá, Colombia, in a posh neighborhood, a woman clad in soft beige walked in high heels out of a two-story house with armed guards to investigate who was spying on her in the 1980s. Detectives identified her as Veronica Rivera de Vargas, better known as Bogotá's “Queen of Cocaine.”
Colombian judge orders prison for 2 suspects in the kidnapping of parents of Liverpool soccer player
Two suspects in the kidnapping of the parents of Liverpool soccer player Luis Díaz were ordered sent to prison by a judge, according to Colombia’s Prosecutor’s Office, which accused one of the men of being the link to a person close to the family who provided information about the victims.
UN rights experts report a rise of efforts in Venezuela to squelch democracy ahead of 2024 election
A U.N.-backed panel investigating human rights violations in Venezuela says the South American country’s government has intensified efforts to curtail democratic freedoms with use of threats, surveillance and harassment as President Nicolás Maduro faces a re-election contest next year.
Thousands take to Colombia’s streets to protest 50% increase in gasoline prices
Thousands of protesters on cars and motorbikes have taken to the streets of Colombia’s main cities to reject recent hikes in gasoline prices that have drastically increased the price of fuel in the South American country.
Once Colombia's most-wanted drug lord, the kingpin known as Otoniel gets 45 years in prison in US
A Colombian man once seen as one of the world’s most dangerous drug lords has been sentenced to 45 years in prison in the U.S. Dairo Antonio Úsuga — known as Otoniel — was sentenced Tuesday in a federal court in New York.
Colombia begins a six-month cease-fire with its last remaining rebel group in hopes of forging peace
Colombia’s government and the National Liberation Army, or ELN, have formally begun a six-month cease-fire as part of a process to forge a permanent peace between authorities and the country’s last remaining rebel group.
Panama launches operation in Darien jungle targeting organized crime and migrant smugglers
Panama has launched a security operation along its shared border with Colombia to combat organized crime groups and migrant smugglers involved in record-setting migration through the perilous Darien Gap this year.
Venezuela’s Guaidó denounces being expelled from Colombia
Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó says he was expelled from Colombia hours after he crossed the border from Venezuela to try to meet with some participants at Tuesday’s international conference to discuss his country’s political crisis.”
Weird crime: Sorcerer’s fire during healing ritual kills woman, prosecutors say
A 56-year-old man known as The Sorcerer of Liborina covered a 31-year-old mother of four with a potion that was made out of alcohol, sulfur, and camphor, a waxy substance that is usually made from turpentine oil, according to prosecutors.
Venezuelan tycoon shields US fortune from FARC rebel victims
An appeals court has overturned a Florida federal judge’s order seizing the U.S. fortune of a sanctioned Venezuelan billionaire with alleged cartel ties to satisfy a $318 million judgment for the American victims of a Colombian terrorist kidnapping.
Caribbean storm likely to gain force, hit Central America
The U.S. National Hurricane Center says a storm that has hurled rain on the southern Caribbean and the northern shoulder of South America is expected to hit Central America as a tropical storm over the weekend and eventually develop into a hurricane over the Pacific.
Pro-choice groups celebrate historic victory in Colombia
There were only three exceptions — life-threatening cases, fetus malformations, or rape or incest — when a coalition of organizations filed a lawsuit to challenge the ban as discriminatory in 2020. On Monday, pro-choice activists had a historic victory. The country’s Constitutional Court sided with the coalition.
Colombian working as Venezuelan diplomat was DEA informant, records show
A federal judge unsealed records on Wednesday in Miami revealing that a Colombian businessman who Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro had described as his envoy was a confidential source for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
Family members fear for the safety of the Colombian men being held in Haiti, after President Moïse assassination
Family members of the 18 Colombians being detained in Haiti share photos with Local 10′s Cody Weddle, hoping to convey what they believe is proof that their loved ones would never be capable of carrying out an assassination.
Haitian police: 26 of 28 mercenaries in president’s murder are Colombian, 2 are Haitian American
As the investigation into the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse continued, Haitian authorities announced Thursday that 17 suspects were detained, three were killed during a shootout, and eight fled.