Colombian drug lord pleads guilty to terror support in US court

Daniel Rendon Herrera (C), a.k.a. “Don Mario”, is heavily escorted by police officers on April 15, 2009 in Bogota, Colombia. Rendon Herrera, Colombia’s biggest drug kingpin for whom the government had offered a 2.1-million-dollar bounty, was arrested by a special unit of 315 police in Antioquia Department. AFP PHOTO/Rodrigo Arangua (Photo by RODRIGO ARANGUA / AFP)

NEW YORK — A notorious Colombian drug lord pleaded guilty in a New York court on Tuesday to running a criminal enterprise and conspiring to support a designated terrorist group, US justice officials said.

Daniel Rendon Herrera, also known as Don Mario and once considered the most feared narco-terrorist in Colombia, was extradited to the US in 2018 after his arrest in the Colombian jungle in 2009.

Rendon Herrera was a leader of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, known as AUC, which the US government designated in 2001 as a global terrorism organization.

He admitted in court “to providing material support to a designated terrorist organization that brutally killed, kidnapped, and tortured rival drug traffickers and civilians,” the US Justice Department said in a statement.

Rendon Herrera also admitted to having trafficked more than 80 tons of cocaine as part of his billion-dollar cocaine empire.

“Rendon Herrera oversaw operations of a paramilitary cartel that carried out kidnappings, torture, and murders,” the statement said.

When sentenced, Rendon Herrera faces from 20 years to life in prison and over $47 million in forfeiture and fines.