Carlos Lehder, the notorious drug leader known as the 'Cocaine Cowboy' who helped Pablo Escobar establish the Medellin Drug Cartel was released recently from a US jail.

Carlos Lehder had established and ran the Medellin Cartel alongside Pablo Escobar. They flooded the streets in the U.S. with billions worth of cocaine from 1970 to 1980.

He became known for creating a base for drug smuggling on a private island in the Bahamas with the help of corrupt officials, according to BBC News.

In fact, Lehder had set up a transit point for drug-laden aircraft about 340 km off the coast of Florida on the island of Norman Cay.

Why was Lehder Released from Jail?

Lehder's daughter told a local news outlet that his father was diagnosed with cancer and that he would be taken care of by a German charity because Carlos Lehder has no relatives in the U.S.

Carlos Lehder has both Colombian and German citizenship since his father was a German national. He was escorted by two U.S. officials on a regular passenger flight from New York and was handed over to German authorities according to a report published in The Guardian.

His daughter said: "It's been 17 years since I last saw him. I'm relaxed and in peace to know that he's well, despite his illness."

Meanwhile, Lehder who has never been to Germany will no longer face legal actions from the country since he has already served his sentence in the U.S.

How was He Captured?

It was alleged that Pablo Escobar tipped off authorities the whereabouts of Carlos Lehder that led to his arrest in a Colombian farm.

He was extradited in the U.S. in 1987 and was sentenced to life plus 135 years in Jail. However, his sentenced was reduced when he cooperated with the government and he was put in a witness protection program.

He testified against the former Panamian leader Manuel Noriega who had links at that time with the Medellin Cartel. Lehder said that Noriega made it possible for the cartel to ship cocaine in Panama.

Meanwhile, during Lehder's trial in 1988 in the U.S., the prosecutors alleged that the Medellin Cartel was responsible for shipping 80 percent of the cocaine in the country.

Moreover, Pablo Escobar who was allegedly tipped off authorities for Lehder's capture was killed by Colombian police in 1993 when he attempted to run and avoid extradition to the U.S. to face the charges filed against him.

Other Things Worth Knowing about Carlos Lehder

Today, the 70-year-old former notorious Medellin Cartel leader has cancer. He also admitted once that he was an admirer of Adolf Hitler.

During the tension of his extradition to the U.S. grew, he formed his own far-right political party in the hope of getting sympathy from Colombian citizens over Colombians facing trials in a foreign court.

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