Norte de Valle cartel leader Wilber "Soap" Varela killed in Venezuela

[OiledMandible]

NY Times:

World Briefing | The Americas
Colombia: Drug Boss Killed in Venezuela

By SIMON ROMERO
Published: February 2, 2008

Wilber Alirio Varela, a leader of the Norte del Valle drug cartel in Colombia, has been found shot to death in a hotel in Mérida, in Venezuela’s Andean region. He commanded a private army believed responsible for hundreds of killings in and near the Colombian city of Cali. The United States was offering a reward of up to $5 million. Mr. Varela was wanted in connection with exports of cocaine to the United States worth more than $10 billion. The killing in Venezuela comes amid claims that it has become a major shipment point and haven for Colombian drug traffickers.

Reuters:

Colombian drug kingpin found shot to death
Fri Feb 1, 2008 4:10pm EST

(Adds Venezuela statement)

By Hugh Bronstein

BOGOTA, Feb 1 (Reuters) - The boss of Colombia's biggest remaining cocaine cartel was shot dead in neighboring Venezuela in an apparent settling of scores among drug gangs, authorities said on Friday.

The discovery of the bullet-riddled body of Wilber Varela, known as "Jabon" or "Soap," on Wednesday near Colombia's border will likely fuel U.S. criticism that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has let his country become a safe haven for drug smugglers.

"We are working with Colombia to turn over the body," said Venezuela's anti-drug chief Col. Nestor Luis Reverol, who said the body's fingerprints matched those of the wanted cocaine king.

Varela, a former police sergeant sought for extradition by the U.S. government for smuggling tonnes of cocaine to the United States, was one of the last Colombian drug kingpins at large after last year's arrest of Diego "Don Diego" Montoya.

Varela was found dead next to the corpse of one of his bodyguards at a hotel in Venezuela's Merida state.

Colombia has received billions of dollars in U.S. aid aimed at cracking down on the drug trade but leftist Chavez has kicked U.S. anti-drug teams out of the country, saying they were working against his self-styled revolution.

"I think it is about time to face up to the fact that President Chavez is becoming a major facilitator of the transit of cocaine to Europe and other parts of this hemisphere," John Walters, director of the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy, told Reuters earlier this month.

Chavez dismisses those accusations as part of an "imperialist" plot to discredit him.

Reverol said Venezuela had extradited accused trafficker Luis Ramon Guerra to the United States after he was captured with help from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, or DEA.

But he reiterated that Venezuela did not need to sign a cooperation agreement with the DEA in order to fight drugs.

Varela and Montoya had battled for control of the Norte del Valle cartel, a violent rivalry that left hundreds dead.

The U.S. government had offered a $5 million reward leading to the arrest of Varela, who got his nickname from a brand of soap with the same name.

The Norte del Valle gang, based near the western city of Cali, is the only Colombian cartel that still controls all areas of the business from cultivation of coca plants to production of cocaine and its exportation.

A mosaic of smaller drug gangs have taken the place of the once mighty cartels. Colombian cocaine exports remain steady at over 600 tonnes per year, according to the United Nations. (Additional reporting Ana Isabel Martinez and Luis Jaime Acosta; Editing by Eric Beech)

BBC:

Colombian drugs lord found dead
Jeremy McDermott
BBC News, Medellin

Colombia's most-wanted drugs baron has been found dead in a holiday cabin in the Venezuelan city of Merida.

Officials confirmed the body is that of Wilber Varela, alias "Soap", a man with a long and bloody history as leader of the Norte del Valle drug cartel.

While Varela had a $5m (£2.5m) bounty from the US on his head, the evidence suggests he was killed by his own men.

His cocaine smuggling cartel was the successor to the infamous Medellin cartel of Pablo Escobar.

It is believed that Varela's cartel moved thousands of tonnes of cocaine into the US and Europe.

New recruits

US and Colombian intelligence agencies said that Varela had been hiding in Venezuela for at least a year, running his operations out of their reach.

Venezuela is now the principal transit nation for Colombian cocaine and does not co-operate with international anti-drugs efforts.

Colombian intelligence sources said that communications intercepts suggested that Varela was killed by some of his own men, a not unexpected end for a man who started in the drug business as an a assassin.

Last year, the other three leaders of the Norte del Valle cartel were captured, in effect bringing an end to the organisation.

However, a new generation of traffickers is already stepping up to take their place.

The security forces have the aliases of two men believed to be picking up the pieces within the cartel and keeping the business moving.

They are known only as '06' and 'Red Shirt' and the hunt is on for them and their real identities as a new chapter in the war on drugs begins.

Reputation Comments on this post:

well put together, thanks for the addition

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Update:

International Herald Tribune

Slain Colombian drug lord was protected by Venezuelan authorities, ex-official says
The Associated Press
Published: February 4, 2008

CARACAS, Venezuela: A Colombian drug lord found slain last week in Venezuela had lived in the country for years under the protection of crooked Venezuelan officials, a former counter-drug official said in comments published Sunday.

The Colombian trafficker Wilber Varela "moved between the two countries, but he spent more time here" during the past five years, former Venezuelan anti-drug chief Mildred Camero told the newspaper El Universal.

Attempts to reach Camero on Sunday were unsuccessful.

Varela, alias "Jabon," or "Soap," was found shot to death in the city of Merida on Wednesday. He was one of Colombia's most-wanted traffickers.

"Confidential intelligence reports said he was being protected by Venezuelan authorities" and was one of multiple drug bosses who "acted with complete freedom," obtained Venezuelan passports and met "with high-ranking government officials," Camero told El Universal.

There was no immediate reaction from President Hugo Chavez's government.

Camero was Venezuela's top anti-drug official until she was dismissed in 2005, after she said she submitted reports on high-level drug corruption among police, military and other officials.

Last year, Colombian officials said they believed Varela was living in Venezuela, and Venezuelan counter-drug officials had vowed to arrest him if they found him.