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Jose Luis Herrera

Jose Luis Herrera (died 1981) was a colonel of Colombia's Administrative Department of Security (DAS).

Biography[]

Jose Luis Herrera joined the Administrative Department of Security (DAS) of Colombia and rose to the rank of Colonel by 1979. Herrera's goal was to track down drug dealers like Pablo Escobar and enforce the law, and he stopped Escobar's convoy of trucks near Antioquia in 1979 and informed him that one of his men had been arrested. However, Escobar scared him by identifying him by name and by identifying his men Nacho Ibarra, Garcia, Lopez, Pinilla, Felipe, and Esparanza. Escobar told all of the men that he could bribe their families with the goods he was smuggling, and Herrera ordered his men to let Escobar through due to Escobar's threats of killing their families if they fought against him.

Death[]

Herrera Ibarra dead

Herrera and Ibarra after being shot dead

However, Herrera would win a victory in 1981 when Mateo Moreno, a drug chemist working for Escobar's Medellin Cartel, informed him that the cocaine was hidden in spare tires on Escobar's trucks; 390 kilos were lost to DAS. An angry Escobar showed up at the police station, and Herrera forced him to give him a higher amount of money as a bribe. Escobar offered him $1,000,000, but under one condition: he would give him the name of the traitor. Herrera identified Moreno as the traitor, and Herrera and Ibarra brought Moreno to Escobar at a field. There, Escobar had his hitman Roberto Ramos shoot Herrera and Ibarra dead, and Escobar himself killed Moreno.

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