Luis Hernando Gómez Bustamante (born March 14, 1958) is a Colombian drug trafficker for the

Norte del Valle Cartel The Norte del Valle Cartel (), 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 rose to prominence during the 1990 ...

, who was arrested in 2004 and, on July 19, 2007 transported for

extradition In an extradition, one Jurisdiction (area), jurisdiction delivers a person Suspect, accused or Conviction, convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, into the custody of the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforc ...

to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

on charges of

money laundering Money laundering is the process of illegally concealing the origin of money obtained from illicit activities (often known as dirty money) such as drug trafficking, sex work, terrorism, corruption, and embezzlement, and converting the funds i ...

and

drug smuggling The illegal drug trade, drug trafficking, or narcotrafficking 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 ...

. Gomez, also known as "Rasguño" () is reported to have received his nickname after dismissing the wound caused by being grazed in the cheek by a bullet as "just a scratch". He is currently incarcerated at Federal Correctional Institution, Mendota with a projected release date of 2032.

Position and indictments

According to prosecutors, Gomez went from pumping gas in 1991 to declaring property worth more than half a million dollars a year later. According to U.S. federal prosecutors Gomez co-managed the Norte del Valle empire from 1990 to 2004. Between 1997 and 2004 he would be indicted in the United States three times in three different states. The first indictment issued in January 1997 in the Southern District of Virginia is on charges of Continuing Criminal Enterprise,

conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, ploy, or scheme, is a secret plan or agreement between people (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder, treason, or corruption, especially with a political motivat ...

, firearms, and

. On October 10, 2002, an indictment was issued in Eastern District of New York on charges of drug trafficking and money laundering. In March 2004, Washington D.C. indicted Gomez on drug trafficking and RICO charges. on March 11, 2004, Colombian police conducted raids against Gomez, stripping him of 68 farms, 24 offices and 17 parking lots as well as other items and properties, a total worth listed at over 100 million. Gomez has since admitted to managing the payroll and operations of 800 of the cartel's 6,000 workers, including several members of the Colombian Congress and also eight town mayors. His accumulated wealth at the time of extradition included such luxuries as a

Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello. Founded in 1939 by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988), the company built Auto Avio Costruzioni 815, its first car in 1940, adopted its current name in 1945, and be ...

and two paintings claimed to be originals of

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

master

Peter Paul Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens ( ; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish painting, Flemish artist and diplomat. He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque painting, Flemish Baroque tradition. Rubens' highly charged comp ...

Capture and extradition

Gomez-Bustamante extradited from Colombia to the United States 2007

On July 2, 2004, Gomez was captured as he stepped off a plane in at the

José Martí International Airport José Martí International Airport , sometimes known by its former name Rancho Boyeros Airport (''Aeropuerto de Rancho Boyeros''), (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Aeropuerto Internacional José Martí'') is an international airport located in the ...

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center. Shortly before Gomez was extradited, he stated, in an interview for

RCN TV RCN may refer to: * '' Radio Cadena Nacional (disambiguation)'', a broadcast network in Colombia ** RCN Radio ** RCN TV * RCN Corporation (formerly Residential Communications Network), a cable television, telephone, and Internet service provider ...

, that he had shipped as much as 11 tons of

cocaine Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid and central nervous system stimulant, derived primarily from the leaves of two South American coca plants, ''Erythroxylum coca'' and ''Erythroxylum novogranatense, E. novogranatense'', which are cultivated a ...

in one night to the United States, the cocaine belonging to former

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

paramilitary leader

Salvatore Mancuso Salvatore Mancuso Gómez, also known as "el Mono Mancuso", "Santander Lozada" or "Triple Cero" (i.e. "Triple Zero", or, "000"), among other names (born August 17, 1964 in Montería, Córdoba Department, Córdoba) is a Colombian people, Colombian ...

. He further stated that the Cuban government attempted to have him implicated, with the Colombian President,

Álvaro Uribe Álvaro Uribe Vélez (born 4 July 1952) is a Colombian politician who served as the 31st President of Colombia from 7 August 2002 to 7 August 2010. Uribe started his political career in his home department of Antioquia Department, Antioquia. H ...

, offering at one point to release him if he did. On July 19, 2007 the extradition procedure began with Colombian police transporting Gomez from the

Cómbita Cómbita is a town and municipality in the Colombian Department of Boyacá, part of the sub region of the Central Boyacá Province. Cómbita is situated on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense and borders Arcabuco and the department of Santander in t ...

maximum security prison Maximum security prisons and supermax prisons are grades of high security level used by prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility wher ...

to be handed over to agents of the U.S.

Drug Enforcement Administration The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating illicit Illegal drug trade, drug trafficking a ...

. Gomez was outfitted with a

bulletproof vest A bulletproof vest, also known as a ballistic vest or bullet-resistant vest, is a type of body armor designed to absorb impact and prevent the penetration of firearm projectiles and explosion fragments to the torso. The vest can be either soft ...

as he was transported to the airport for extradition. The cited fear was an attempt on his life by other drug traffickers or corrupt politicians fearing what

testimony Testimony is a solemn attestation as to the truth of a matter. Etymology The words "testimony" and "testify" both derive from the Latin word ''testis'', referring to the notion of a disinterested third-party witness. Law In the law, testimon ...

he may give. It is believed his testimony and personal computer will show links to political officials and police as well as expose the Colombian cocaine trade and the Norte del Valle Cartel. Gomez was believed to be happy for his extradition to the U.S. citing

death threats A death threat is a threat, often made Anonymity, anonymously, by one person or a group of people to kill another person or group of people. These threats are often designed to intimidate victims in order to Psychological manipulation, manipulat ...

from rival cartels since arriving in the Colombian prison system. The head of Colombia's judicial police, Col. Cesar Pinzon, who has called Gomez the " capo of capos", has verified that the prison authorities had received intelligence regarding

assassination Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...

attempts and moved prisoners to prevent them from occurring.

Trial

On October 18, 2008, Gomez pleaded guilty to racketeering charges in a

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

court. He also admitted sending over 500,000 kilograms of cocaine to America through

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

between 1990 and 2004 as well as conspiracy to make and distribute more than 10,000 kilograms of cocaine destined for the US. Due to an extradition agreement between the United States and Colombia, Gomez cannot receive a life sentence, so prosecutors were instead looking for a multi-year prison sentence.

Norte del Valle Cartel

The Norte del Valle Cartel is believed to have shipped 500 tons of cocaine since 1999 in relation to the 600 tons per year estimated to ship from all of Colombia, an estimated value of over 10 billion. Gomez and the cartel have paid right-wing paramilitary militias to protect smuggling routes. The cartel is believed to be the last in Colombia that managed the complete process from the cultivation of the

coca Coca is any of the four cultivated plants in the family Erythroxylaceae, native to western South America. Coca is known worldwide for its psychoactive alkaloid, cocaine. Coca leaves contain cocaine which acts as a mild stimulant when chewed or ...

to the production of cocaine and distribution. It is believed the cartel employs the use of aircraft,

go-fast boat A go-fast boat is a small, fast motorboat, powerboat designed with a long narrow platform and a planing (boat), planing hull. Depending on definitions used, it is either a speedboat (synonymously) or a certain type of speedboat. During the Pr ...

s, and maritime cargo vessels to transport cocaine around the world. The cartel owns cocaine HCl conversion laboratories in the Valle del Cauca region of Colombia, and also has cocaine distribution cells in the

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

area.

Popular culture

* 'Rasguño' is portrayed by the Colombian actor Juan Carlos Arango as the character of 'Oswaldo Tovar aka

Buñuelo A ''buñuelo'' (, alternatively called ''boñuelo'', ''bimuelo'', ''birmuelo'', ''bermuelo'', ''bumuelo'', ''burmuelo'', or ''bonuelo'', is a fried dough fritter found in Spain, Latin America, and other regions with a historical connection to Spa ...

' in TV Series '' El Cartel''. * The character of Braulio Bermúdez (portrayed by the colombian actor Fernando Solórzano) in TV Series '' The Mafia Dolls'' is inspired in Gómez-Bustamante. * In TV series ''

Tres Caínes ''Los Tres Caínes'' (The 3 Cain and Abel, Cains) is a 2013 Spanish-language TV Series produced by RTI Producciones for Colombia-based television network RCN TV and United States–based television network MundoFox. Based on the story of the Colom ...

'' is portrayed by Mauricio Cujar as the character of 'Raspón'.

References