 | A Colombian described as one of history's biggest cocaine dealers was sentenced to 35 years in prison Monday by a Manhattan judge who called the scope of his crimes "staggering." Known as El Loco, Daniel Barrera, 48, was sentenced by Judge Gregory Woods, who said "The scope of the offences here is staggering," "He is dangerous. ... Too short a sentence would provide him the opportunity to commit additional crimes." The judge said evidence demonstrated that Barrera shipped at least 720 tons of cocaine from Colombia to the United States as part of a massive drug dealing operation that sent drugs to four continents and utilized a submersible vehicle. Barrera had admitted distributing 400 tons of cocaine annually from 1998 to 2011 with an organization backed by lethal drug cartels and terrorist groups. |
 | Colombia's president personally announced in a speech the night Barrera was captured in Venezuela in 2012. Barrera was extradited to the U.S. in 2013. He pleaded guilty a year later. Colombian authorities have called him 'the last of the great kingpins' Barrera was a key associate of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in drug retail and distribution. Barrera was an associate of alias "Negro Acacio" a renowned guerrilla commander. |  |
