Colombian Drug Lord Daniel Barrera Pleads Guilty To Charge In NYC
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- A Colombian known as "El Loco" has pleaded guilty to a drug trafficking charge in a New York case accusing him of importing hundreds of tons of cocaine into the United States.
Daniel Barrera entered the plea in federal court in Manhattan on Thursday. He is being held without bail. His lawyer declined comment outside court.
U.S. prosecutors have described the 46-year-old Barrera as one of the largest cocaine distributors in history. They alleged he processed about 30,000 kilograms -- more than 60,000 pounds -- of raw cocaine into cocaine powder each month since 1998.
Barrera, whom Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos once called "the last of the great capos," admitted manufacturing and distributing 400 tons of cocaine annually from 1998 to 2010.
Barrera spent years on the run as the world's most-wanted drug dealer. In the years before his capture, he changed his appearance through plastic surgery, burned his fingers with acid to do away with fingerprints and posed as a cattle rancher in Venezuela.
He was extradited from Colombia after his 2012 arrest in Venezuela.
Barrera faces up to life in prison when he is sentenced.
You May Also Be Interested In These Stories
(TM and © Copyright 2014 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2014 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)