Julio Andres Murillo Figueroa, also known as the Tsar, was wanted over the trafficking of shipments of cocaine from Colombia to Europe (Picture: Police)
A drug boss who worked with Pablo Escobar and evaded capture for 15 years was finally caught when he took his dog to the vets.
Julio Andres Murillo Figueroa, also known as the Tsar, was wanted over the trafficking of shipments of cocaine from Colombia to Europe.
He is suspected of being one of the leading figures in a cartel that supplied the Italian mafia, including the feared Ndrangheta, and Mocro Mafia, which operates from the Netherlands.
The Tsar has been on European law enforcement’s radar since a cargo of 1,623 kilos of cocaine was discovered in 2021 off the coast of Huelva in Spain.
Spanish police said in a statement following Murillo Figueroa’s arrest: ‘He was known by police authorities for having collaborated in the past with a historical leader of (the Medellin Cartel) between the 80s and 90s.’
Murillo Figueroa worked under Escobar in his Medellin Cartel before setting himself up as on of the city’s main dealers in the wake of the drug lord’s death in 1993.
He left Europe and returned to his homeland when his middle man was captured in 2022.
Murillo Figueroa worked under Escobar in his Medellin Cartel in the 80s and 90s (Picture: Colombian Police)
His reign ended in a much quieter fashion than his former boss’s, with police able to identify him by his distinctive gait while taking his dog to the vets in Cucuta.
Police said in a statement: ‘There were two elements that led to his identity, his visits to a medical centre due to his own problems with mobility which led him to use a walking stick, and the continual trips to a vet for his dog.
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‘But then H1 disappeared again, before he was seen at another mansion in Antioquia, valued at around £1.5million, where he was spotted every now and again taking his dog for a walk by a private lake.’
Pablo Escobar became one of the richest men in the world masterminding a drug-smuggling empire that extended from Colombia to a dozen other countries.
He was shot dead by Colombian police after being cornered on a rooftop while trying to flee.
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