By Anne Losensky
A drug lord from Colombia wanted to deliver a ton of cocaine to Germany. Verdict: 11 years in prison!
THE COLOMBIAN. His name is Oscar RL (61). Pilot. businessman. String puller with dubious contacts: Sentenced to 40 years in prison in Colombia, free after two years. Sentenced to 10 years in prison in the USA (drugs), released after seven years.
In March 2022, the clan boss travels to his son, who is at boarding school in Switzerland. Final destination Berlin, solitary confinement. The Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) considers everyone who has anything to do with him to be at high risk. That’s why there are bodyguards for judges, prosecutors, lay judges.
THE CARTEL. He measures only 1.60 meters and looks like an accountant. Tough with a Biedermann facade: From 2020 he is said to have promised the Berlin “steel carrier gang” the delivery of a ton of cocaine. For years, they had been importing steel girders from South America to Europe via dummy companies, the pallet cavities underneath were stuffed with cocaine – a total of 6.6 tons!
The trial against the ten “logisticians” (33 to 63 years old) is still ongoing. Some also testified against the Colombian at the trial.
NICKNAME TACO. The evidence is overwhelming. The BKA bugged a car. overheard for months.
Chief Public Prosecutor Günter Sohnrey: “There was this conspiratorial tendency to never give real names. It was called Taco.” The amount of cocaine in question had “not yet been negotiated in Berlin,” says the senior public prosecutor. “This is the Champions League.”
The Colombian denies the crimes to the end. He only has to do with “palm oil and real estate”. His lawyers demanded acquittal: “It’s all speculation!”
COCAINE CAPITAL. “It was about international cocaine trafficking on a large scale,” said judge Thorsten Braunschweig. A ton of cocaine, street value in Berlin 100 million euros. In Berlin, cocaine use has doubled in the last four years. In 2021 there were 223 drug-related deaths.