Colombia grabs assets linked to Sinaloa drug cartel

Reuters
2:14 p.m. CDT, April 26, 2012

* Police says seizure a blow to drug traffickers

* Assets linked to Sinaloa cartel's boss, "Chapo" Guzman

BOGOTA, April 26 (Reuters) - Colombia has seized a bounty of
assets including luxury cars and real state that belonged to
Mexico's Sinaloa drug cartel, which dominates drug trafficking
into the United States, police in the Andean nation said on
Thursday.

Colombia, one of the biggest cocaine exporters, has made
strides in recent years against Marxist guerrillas and
paramilitary groups that finance themselves with drug sales.
Some of them have strong ties with Mexican drug cartels.

The 58 confiscated assets, including 36 houses and
apartments, 15 companies and six luxury cars,
belonged to
Antonio Bermudez, a former "right-hand man" of Mexican drug lord
Joaquin "Chapo" Guzman, according to Colombian police.

The seizure could hurt the finances of El Chapo - as the
Sinaloa cartel leader is known -, who became a household name
when he escaped a Mexican maximum security prison in a laundry
cart in 2001.

"This is one of the biggest blows against criminal
organizations," said General Jose Roberto Leon, deputy director
of the Colombian police force. "This was an operation against
the side of drug trafficking that deals with investments in the
legal economy."

Police footage showed a lavishly decorated country home with
a swimming pool. The seizure of assets, valued at about $15
million, followed the expropriation in 2010 of 264 Sinaloa-owned
goods valued at some $85 million.

The assets were found in the Colombian cities of Medellin,
Bogota, Cali and several towns in the northern Antioquia region,
police said.

The investigation that led to the seizure was carried out by
Colombian police, the Colombian attorney general's office and
the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency. Colombia has benefited from
billions of dollars in U.S. aid that has allowed it to cripple
illegal armed groups.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon pledged upon taking office
in 2006 to defeat drug cartels operating in Mexico. But the
cartels have continued to thrive during a war that has seen
widespread drug-related violence and the deaths of more than
50,000 people.

The U.S. government has offered a $5 million award for
information leading to the capture of El Chapo - Spanish for
"Shorty" -, who is ranked on Forbes' list of the world's most
powerful people.

Bermudez is a Colombian citizen described by police as
Guzman's top lieutenant. He was arrested in Mexico in 2008 and
is imprisoned in the United States.

Colombia grabs assets linked to Sinaloa drug cartel - chicagotribune.com