Colombia Busts Gang Linked to Notorious Drug Lord Daniel Rendon Herrera, alias “Don Mario,” capturing seven of its members in two northwestern provinces

Latin American Herald Tribune - Colombia Busts Gang Linked to Notorious Drug Lord: "Colombian authorities dismantled a criminal gang linked to jailed drug lord Daniel Rendon Herrera, alias “Don Mario,” capturing seven of its members in two northwestern provinces, Bogota daily El Tiempo reported.

An operation coordinated between the army and the federal Attorney General’s Office led to the arrest in Antioquia and Cordoba provinces of seven alleged members of the Gaitanist Eagles gang, which had taken over Rendon Herrera’s business in those regions.

Among the detainees was alleged gang leader Luis Eduardo Vargas, alias “Pipon,” who is accused of committing hundreds of crimes in the region and of smuggling drugs to the United States via Central America.

The arrests have practically dismantled the organization, El Tiempo reported Thursday, citing the head of the anti-narcotics unit of the AG’s office, Ana Margarita Duran.

Rendon Herrera was captured in April 2009 and the Colombian Supreme Court in March denied a request for his extradition from the United States, which accused him of providing material support to a terrorist organization – the now-defunct AUC militia federation – and of conspiring to import, manufacture, possess and distribute cocaine in the United States."