"Don Diego" Taken Down

Diego Leon Montoya Sanchez, known in Colombia as "Don Diego", one of the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, was arrested in the early morning hours of September 10, 2007.  Agents from the FBI's Miami Field Office joined forces with the Colombian National Police and Army to capture Montoya near Zarzal, about 70 miles north of Cali, in the Colombian state of Valle del Cauca. 

Colombian media agencies call  this capture the biggest hit to the illegal drug cartels since the capture of Pablo Escobar and the Rodriguez-Orejuela brothers.

The FBI tells AMW.com that Montoya is the principal leader of the North Valley Cartel.  That cartel is believed to be the most powerful and violent drug trafficking organization in Colombia, and according to Federal Agents, controls more than 60% of the cocaine exported from Colombia to the United States.

According to the FBI, The North Valley Cartel produces and exports several tons of cocaine on a monthly basis to the United States and other countries.  In an indictment filed in Miami in February 2007, charges against Montoya are related to the August 2003 torture and murder of an FBI witness in Colombia. 

U.S. Federal Agents believe that the cartel relies heavily for protection on illegal armed groups, including paramilitaries and rebels. 

According to the FBI Miami Field Office, Montoya's youngest brother, Eugenio Montoya Sanchez, was arrested in January 2007 and is awaiting his extradition to Miami.  Montoya's chief enforcer, Carlos Jose Robayo, was extradited to Miami in 2006 and plead guilty.  In 2005, Montoya's brother and cousin, Juan Carlos Montoya Sanchez and Felipe Toro Sanchez, were extradited to Miami where they subsequently plead guilty.

On May 5, 2004 the Department of Justice handed down an indictment against nine members of the notorious Columbian drug Cartel, North Valley. North Valley is thought to be responsible for importing at least 1.2 million pounds of cocaine, valued at 10 million dollars, into the U.S. over the past decade. 

According to the FBI and other agencies of the Justice Department, Montoya-Sanchez led the cartel by using mafia-style violence and intimidation to keep the criminal enterprise going. The indictment against Montoya-Sanchez and his cohorts alleges acts of kidnapping, torture, murder, and dismemberment against rival drug traffickers or associates they deem "disloyal."

The indictment also details evidence the cartel uses bribery of Colombian officials, wiretaps to intercept communications of rival cartels and law enforcement, and brutality to maintain discipline within the organization.

DEA Official Confident Of Success

Back in 2004, when announcing the indictment, Drug Enforcement Administrator Karen Tandy predicted success against the North Valley Cartel.   "We have ripped out the foundation of the largest and most powerful drug cartel in Colombia", Tandy said.

"We have indicted the ringleaders of a criminal organization responsible for bringing into the United States one-third to one-half of the cocaine that reaches our shores. The combined efforts of Colombia and US law enforcement have put these traffickers on notice: Like the Medellin and Cali cartels before them, their time is running out."

FBI Captures Top Ten Fugitive Drug Lord

Diego Leon Montoya Sanchez, one of the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives was arrested on September 10, 2007 by Colombian authorities.  Montoya had been on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list since May 2004.

Agents from the FBI's Miami Field Office joined forces with the Colombian National Police and Army to capture Montoya near Zarzal, about 70 miles north of Cali, in the Colombian state of Valle del Cauca.  Montoya had been on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list since May 2004.

The FBI says Montoya is the principal leader of the North Valley Cartel, which is believed to be the most powerful and violent drug trafficking organization in Colombia and controls over 60% of the cocaine exported from Colombia to the United States.