Víctor Carranza

Who was Víctor Carranza?

Víctor Carranza was a Colombian emerald dealer and the owner of emerald mines in the Boyacá mountains. The economy of the area around the mines is dependent on the trade.

Carranza was involved in the Muzo mining area outside Boyacá, Colombia from the 1980s until his death. Various forces clashed during the Green War, including Pablo Escobar and the Medellin Cartel, leftist guerrilla groups and right wing paramilitaries. Carranza managed to remain in control of Colombia's emerald trade during this period.

In 1998, he was arrested in Bogotá. He was held for four years until a ruling of the Supreme Court.

In 2010, he survived an assassination attempt. The attackers stopped his convoy with a petrol truck and shot at his vehicle.

In 2012, prosecutors launched an investigation to find out whether Carranza financed a number of paramilitary groups in the 1990s based on testimony given by a former leader of the paramilitary group called United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, Fredy Rendon Herrera. Carranza claimed that he instead the victim of extortion.

He died of lung and prostate cancer.