It's a bad time to be a drug lord. Coming hot off the heels of the arrest of the DEA's most wanted drug lord, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, 71-year-old Solomon Camacho Mora, the leader of Colombia's Guajira cartel, has been sentenced in New Jersey to 11 years in prison, putting an end to a battle with the law that began more than two decades ago.
Mora, also known as "Papa Grande," "El Viejo," "Salo," "El Patron," "Solomon Comacho" and "Hector Anibal Montoya," based on government records, was sued by Florida in 1991 for drug trafficking. He was later indicted in 2002 in the District of New Jersey for money laundering violations and became a New Jersey FBI fugitive for more than eight years before he was captured in Venezuela in January 2010. He had a $5 million bounty on his head prior to his capture.
After his capture and subsequent extradition to New Jersey, Mora stood trial on Oct. 15, 2014, where he pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge H. Walls to conspiracy to commit narcotics trafficking. Court records indicate that he admitted that he and fellow members of the cartel purchased multi-kilogram quantities of cocaine from Colombia and arranged for them to be transported to Venezuelan shipping ports, reported Reuters. Upon their transfer, the drugs were sold to other trafficking organizations in Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and the U.S.
Sentenced Wednesday, Mora faced a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison and a maximum of life. Though only sentenced to 11, Mora will also forfeit $1.6 million and eight Colombian properties as per the plea agreement, according to the Associated Press.
Mora was also sentenced to five years of probation after his release.
