Colombian warlord sentenced to 40 years in prison after serving time for drug trafficking in the US

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — A Colombian court on Monday sentenced former paramilitary leader Salvatore Mancuso to 40 years in prison for crimes committed against Indigenous communities in the province of La Guajira, including homicides, forced disappearances and the displacement of people from 2002 to 2006.

The special tribunal that hears cases from the country’s armed conflict said in its ruling that Mancuso was responsible for 117 crimes committed by fighters under his command in La Guajira. However, it added that Mancuso’s time in prison could be reduced to eight years, if he collaborates with truth and reparation activities that benefit victims of his former paramilitary group.

Colombia’s decades-long internal conflict has led to multiple peace negotiations between the government and guerrillas and armed groups, including a 2016 peace deal with the largest guerrilla group FARC.

Mancuso, 61, was repatriated to Colombia in 2024 after serving a lengthy prison sentence in the United States for drug trafficking. The former paramilitary leader, who also holds Italian citizenship, was denied several requests to be sent to Italy after completing his sentence in the U.S., where he had been extradited in 2008.

In the late 1990s, Mancuso was one of the commanders of the United Self Defense Forces of Colombia, or AUC, a group created to defend landowners from attacks by Marxist rebels that included the FARC.

At least 450,000 people were killed in Colombia's armed conflict between 1985 and 2018, according to a report published by a truth commission in 2022, including civilians, rebel fighters, soldiers and members of paramilitary groups.

Mancuso's group, the AUC, managed to push the rebels out of some rural areas, but was accused of killing hundreds of innocent villagers.

AUC began to disarm in 2003 following an agreement with the Colombian government that provided reduced sentences to its leaders. But the paramilitary group was succeeded by a second generation of right wing militias that continue to operate in Colombia, including the Gulf Clan, a group with approximately 10,000 fighters.

Mancuso was freed from U.S. prison in February 2024 and deported to Colombia, where he remained in custody for several months. He was freed in July after various courts determined there were no prison sentences pending against him.

When he was repatriated to Colombia, Mancuso was named a “peace facilitator” by Colombian President Gustavo Petro, a designation that enables him to act as a mediator in talks with armed groups.

Colombia’s government is currently engaged in peace talks with the Gulf Clan.

In December, both sides signed an agreement in Qatar under which the group’s fighters will gather in specially designated camps, where they will be free from government prosecution as talks between both sides continue.