Spain detains two Colombians suspected of 200 killings

VALENCIA - Spanish police have captured two Colombian suspected hitmen wanted for involvement in more than 200 killings, police said Tuesday.

The suspects, who were also charged with abductions and torture, were described as the most dangerous Colombian nationals detained in Spain so far.

Henry Norberto Valdes alias Pollo, 36, and Mauricio Alberto Gonzalez alias Ronco, 44, were arrested in the region of the eastern city of Valencia. Both were believed to be professional killers in the service of drug cartels claiming debts with violent methods.

Valdes was thought to have been the logistical head of La Negra, a group of hitmen linked with Colombia’s Norte del Valle drug cartel.

La Negra operated in eight countries and killed at least 200 people in Colombia alone, according to Spanish police sources. Its victims included Colombian footballer Albeiro Usuriaga, who was gunned down in 2004, as well as intelligence and police officers, the sources said.

Gonzalez was suspected of links with Colombia’s Envigado drug ring. He had earlier belonged to the paramilitary organization United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia (AUC), now officially dissolved, police said.

Gonzalez and Valdes were believed to have settled in Spain to continue their criminal activities there. Gonzalez had married a Spanish citizen in order to obtain a residence permit, police said.

The arrests were made in cooperation with Colombian police. The two suspects were expected to be extradited to the Latin American country.

After the AUC was dismantled, several of its former members who had links with drug cartels fled to European countries, the sources said.