Fabio Ochoa Vásquez (born May 2, 1957) is a former leading member of the cocaine cartel in Medellín, along with his older brothers Juan David and Jorge Luis. His role briefly made him a billionaire. After serving a short prison sentence in Colombia, he was arrested and extradited to the US in 1999 and is serving a 30-year sentence in US federal prison.
Early career
The youngest of the three Ochoa brothers, Ochoa Vásquez, lived in Miami, Florida, in the 1970s and early 1980s and is believed to have trafficked thousands of kilos of cocaine. He was first indicted by the U.S. government in 1984 and alleged to have been involved in the murder of Barry Seal, a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration informant, on February 19, 1986. In 1987, he and his brothers were featured in Forbes Magazine list of global billionaires, and remained on the list until 1992. The New York Times reported that during this period he was considered the “general manager” of the family business.
Imprisonment
In 1991, Ochoa Vásquez and his brothers turned themselves in to Colombian authorities, hoping to avoid “open war” with the government through a plea deal. They served short terms together in Colombia and were released in 1996. At the time, Colombia and the US did not have an extradition treaty, and the brothers were promised not to be extradited in the future as part of the plea deal.
After his release, he was arrested again in 1999 and charged with contributing knowledge and receiving payments for cocaine shipments. Despite a lobbying and press campaign, he was extradited to the United States in September 2001 and convicted in 2003 of trafficking, conspiracy and distribution of cocaine in the US. He was sentenced to 30 years in a US federal prison. He is now in federal prison in Jesup, Georgia.
After his imprisonment, the Colombian government seized property worth several million dollars from him, including several farms and businesses. On May 1, 2020, US federal prosecutors objected to a bid to release Ochoa Vásquez five years before the completion of his 30-year prison sentence.
Juan David (1949-2013), Jorge Luis (1950-) and Fabio (1957-) Ochoa Vasquez, better known as the Ochoa brothers or the Ochoa clan, one of the leaders of the Medellin Cartel. Currently, Fabio is in prison in the US, Juan David died of a heart attack on July 25, 2013 and Jorge Luis is free.