The Diplomat
The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, considers “very regrettable” the granting of provisional freedom granted to Diego Marín Buitrago, alias ‘Pitufo’, considered the Colombian ‘smuggling czar’ after being arrested in Valencia.
“Very regrettable, even though we are speaking with the Spanish president and there is an extradition treaty that we have fully complied with, the Spanish justice system has released the main smuggler and money launderer of drug trafficking in Colombia. Mr. Diego Marín has been released” , Petro published on his X account.
Marín Buitrago, who has Spanish nationality, must sign every 15 days and has been prohibited from leaving the national territory. From now on, it will be Colombia that must formalize the extradition request and, subsequently, the Criminal Chamber will have to rule on the surrender, according to legal sources consulted by Europa Press.
The arrest occurred on Friday, as confirmed by Petro himself when thanking the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, for his collaboration in this operation, which he defined as “the largest operation against Colombian smuggling.”
The smuggling czar “is the head of a broad criminal association that includes people who are inside the State, in political life and, in general, in crime in Colombia, dedicated to smuggling in the country,” Petro explained. in a public appearance.
The capture has been possible thanks to joint intelligence work by the Colombian Police and the Spanish Police and Civil Guard, as well as thanks to the collaboration of the Government of Spain, Petro explained.
“I was able to speak with President Pedro Sánchez by phone about this matter and I asked for his collaboration. We had him located, but he was not captured and, thanks to that collaboration, today he was captured,” Petro acknowledged.
The detainee “will be sent back to Colombia so that the competent authorities, the Prosecutor’s Office in this case, have the opportunity to discover one of the worst criminal acts in the country,” he said in his message, published before the granting of conditional freedom.
The Colombian president stressed the importance of this arrest, alleging that “smuggling in Colombia is the other side of drug trafficking” since it is “the way in which exported cocaine is converted into Colombian pesos”, entering through ports “almost with an official seal.”
“What has been presented today is the largest operation in the history of Colombia against smuggling,” Petro declared this Friday and defended that “the capture of Marín is part of the Government’s security policy.” A policy that involves “attacking the heads of crime and developing comprehensive action against the illicit economy of which smuggling is a fundamental piece.”
