Leonidas Vargas

Who was Leonidas Vargas?

Leonidas Vargas, also known as "El Viejo" and "The King of Caqueta", was a Colombian drug lord who headed a multi-million dollar cocaine empire associated with the Medellín Cartel and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. Vargas became one of the richest drug lords in Colombia, as well as one of the most wanted by police.

In 1995 Vargas began serving a six-year prison term, during which he survived an assassination attack when his rivals set off a bomb at his jail. In 2006, he was again arrested in Madrid for cocaine trafficking. While awaiting a trial on those charges, Vargas was killed on January 8, 2009, when he was shot to death in a hospital bed.