Eduardo Restrepo Victoria alias "El Socio" (the Associate) (born September 29, 1958 in

Pitalito Pitalito is a Colombian town and municipality located to the south of the Department of Huila, Colombia over the Valley of the Rio Grande de la Magdalena, 188 km from Huila's capital, Neiva. It is referred to as "''The Valley of Laboyos''" ...

, Huila) is a Colombian

drug trafficker The illegal drug trade or drug trafficking is a global black market dedicated to the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of prohibited drugs. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types of drugs through ...

former member of the

Norte del Valle Cartel The Norte del Valle Cartel ( es, Cártel del Norte del Valle), or North Valley Cartel, was a drug cartel that operated principally in the north of the Valle del Cauca department of Colombia, most notably the coastal city of Buenaventura. It ros ...

and associate of

Wilber Varela Wilber Alirio Varela Fajardo (November 6, 1957 – 2008), also known as ''Jabón'' ("Soap"), was a Colombian drug trafficker. He was the leader of the Norte del Valle Cartel. A Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act indictment was fi ...

. Restrepo was wanted by Colombian authorities on charges of

illegal drug trade The illegal drug trade or drug trafficking is a global black market dedicated to the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of prohibited drugs. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types of drugs through ...

illicit enrichment Illicit enrichment generally refers to a situation in which a person has enjoyed some sort of wealth that cannot or has not been justified as coming from a legitimate source of income. The exact definitions for illicit enrichment, and the terminolo ...

and illegal arms possession. He was captured by Colombian and United States authorities on July 25, 2006 On July 20, 2006 the United States government asked for his extradition. Colombian Air Force: Fue detenido Eduardo Restrepo Victoria, “El Socio”, considerado aliado de Wílber Varela
/ref> He was extradited to the United States on December 10, 2007.

Early years

Restrepo was born and raised in the outskirts of

in the Department of Huila in central Colombia to a family of peasants workers. Most of his early life was spent working on rice fields in

Lérida Lleida (, ; Spanish: Lérida ) is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital city of the province of Lleida. Geographically, it is located in the Catalan Central Depression. It is also the capital city of the Segrià comarca, as ...

, Department of Tolima after migrating for better luck. In Lérida, Restrepo met important rice producers who employed him, including associates of Diego León Montoya Sánchez, and worked in

hacienda An ''hacienda'' ( or ; or ) is an estate (or ''finca''), similar to a Roman ''latifundium'', in Spain and the former Spanish Empire. With origins in Andalusia, ''haciendas'' were variously plantations (perhaps including animals or orchards), ...

s that had airstrips in Espinal,

Ibagué Ibagué () (referred to as San Bonifacio de Ibagué del Valle de las Lanzas during the Spanish period) is the capital of Tolima, one of the 32 departments that make up the Republic of Colombia. The city is located in the center of the country, ...

and Venadillo. He became a sort of air controller for flights used by the mafia of the

back then led by Montoya-Sánchez, among others.

Drug trafficking

According to

Colombian National Police The National Police of Colombia (Spanish: ''Policía Nacional de Colombia'') is the national police force of the Republic of Colombia. Although the National Police is not part of the Military Forces of Colombia (Army, Navy, and Air Force), it ...

accounts, after being introduced to the

Restrepo began to manage properties of another drug baron, Henry Loaiza Ceballos aka "El Alacran". Loaiza sent him to

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

in 1995 where he established contacts with the Mexican Drug Cartel ; the Juarez Cartel led by

Amado Carrillo Fuentes Amado Carrillo Fuentes (; December 17, 1956 – July 7, 1997) was a Mexican drug lord who seized control of the Juárez Cartel after assassinating his boss Rafael Aguilar Guajardo. Amado Carrillo became known as "''El Señor de Los Cielos''" ( ...

aka "El Senor de los Cielos". In Mexico Restrepo massed a fortune by controlling drug flow and the contacts between the Colombian and Mexican mafias.

Return to Colombia

Restrepo returned to Colombia in late 2000 and began a purchase spree of haciendas, nightclubs, commercial establishments, office buildings and luxury apartments and vehicles. He also associated with Wílber Alirio Varela aka "Jabón" another boss of the Norte del Valle Cartel. In 2001 the then governor of the Department of Tolima Guillermo Alfonso Jaramillo alerted authorities about his behavior and eccentricities. Restrepo then went clandestine. On August 25, 2005 4 witnesses testified against Restrepo alleging that he had links to mafias and to paramilitary groups associated to the

United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia The United Self-Defences of Colombia (''Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia'', or AUC, in Spanish) was a Colombian far-right paramilitary and drug trafficking group which was an active belligerent in the Colombian armed conflict during the period ...

; the

Tolima Bloc Tolima may refer to: * Tolima Department of Colombia * Nevado del Tolima, a volcano in Colombia * Deportes Tolima, a Colombian football (soccer) team in the First Division * Tolima State, Colombia, which existed from 1861 to 1869 * Tolima or Pan ...

. Witnesses mentioned that Restrepo and partner Wílber Varela had been planning to purchase part of the paramilitary unit.

Arrest

In 2004 an

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

's unit raided one of Restrepo's properties in the outskirts of Ibagué with an arrest warrant for delinquency, production and traffic and porting unauthorized firearms. On Sunday July 23, 2006 the

intercepted a phone call of Restrepo calling a family member asking him to appeal to two businessmen from the Department of Tolima to lend him the farm Andalucia, located in the municipality of

Subachoque Subachoque is a municipality and town of Colombia in the Western Savanna Province, part of the department of Cundinamarca. The municipality is situated on the Bogotá savanna with the urban centre at an altitude of at a distance of from the c ...

, Department of Cundinamarca. On July 25, 2006 the Colombian National Police intelligence unit DIJIN raided the farm and found him with one more person along with his two daughters and two men. When inquired by the Colombian Attorney General's office Restrepo answered "I've never worked with drugs". He also denied knowing anyone named Wilber Alirio Varela. He denied the testimony given by his former body guard Robinson Guilombo which linked him to the Norte del Valle Cartel. Guilombo is under the protection of the

DEA The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA; ) is a United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating drug trafficking and distribution within the U.S. It is the lead agency for domestic en ...

and Attorney General's units.

Properties

According to Colombian authorities Restrepo has some 900 properties in Colombian and Mexico. His two sisters Teresa and Norma served him as money-launderers, and racketeered through a company named Agropecuaria Palma del Río which was based in Ibagué and in 2005 was included in the

Office of Foreign Assets Control The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is a financial intelligence and enforcement agency of the U.S. Treasury Department. It administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions in support of U.S. national security and foreign policy ob ...

's specially designated nationals list of the

United States Department of the Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and t ...

. Another syndicated money-launderer was pointed out by his bodyguard as Gustavo Adolfo Villanueva along one of his sisters and a former lover. On September 7, 2005 the Colombian National Police raided and confiscated 65 properties belonging to Restrepo in

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the larges ...

Cali Santiago de Cali (), or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with 2,227,642 residents according to the 2018 census. The city spans with of urban area, making Cali the second ...

and the Department of Tolima. Colombian National Police DIJIN: DIJIN ocupó 65 propiedades de Eduardo Restrepo Victoria, alias "El Socio"
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Restrepo Victoria, Eduardo Colombian drug traffickers Norte del Valle Cartel traffickers Living people 1958 births Colombian people imprisoned abroad People extradited from Colombia to the United States People from Huila Department Norte del Valle Cartel