The United States has reportedly given two former Colombian drug traffickers 60 days to leave the country, in a decision that once again puts the immigration and legal future of several former members of criminal organizations who collaborated with U.S. authorities for years under scrutiny.
The information was revealed by Colombian newspaper El Tiempo and indicates that the measure affects Javier Antonio Calle Serna, alias “Comba,” and Jairo Andres Alvarez Rivillas, alias “Coyac.”
According to the report, both former traffickers received the notification amid a tightening of immigration policies and a review of benefits previously granted to former justice collaborators.
The news comes just days after another former Colombian drug capo, Fabio Ochoa Vasco, alias “Kiko Pobre,” quietly left U.S. territory and returned to Colombia, a move that sparked concern among former members of criminal organizations who have been living in that country for years.
US gives former Colombian drug traffickers 60 days to leave the country
Javier Antonio Calle Serna, known as “Comba,” was one of the top leaders of the drug trafficking organization Los Rastrojos, one of Colombia’s most powerful criminal structures following the partial demobilization of paramilitary groups.
For years, he was considered one of the country’s most wanted men due to his ability to control drug trafficking routes and coordinate international cocaine shipments to Central America and the United States.
Calle Serna surrendered to U.S. authorities in 2012 and later cooperated with federal investigations related to drug trafficking and organized crime. That cooperation allowed him to obtain certain legal benefits and remain in U.S. territory for years under confidential conditions.
Meanwhile, Jairo Andres Alvarez Rivillas, alias “Coyac,” was one of Calle Serna’s trusted men. “Coyac” was responsible for expanding Los Rastrojos’ mafia operations into Argentina. Meetings were documented there in Bariloche with Jhon Jairo Lopez, alias “Niko,” a former police officer who managed the aerial drug route from South America to Africa.
The information published by El Tiempo indicates that both men were allegedly ordered to leave the United States within two months, although so far, there has been no official public statement from the U.S. government confirming the exact scope of the decision or the conditions under which they would be required to leave the country.
However, the newspaper explains that these would not be the only cases involving former drug traffickers who, after reaching cooperation agreements with the U.S. justice system — which allegedly allowed them to remain in U.S. territory — are now reportedly being notified of expulsion.
“All of those former capos are classified under first-degree felony status and must leave the country even if they have cooperation agreements and are protected by the Convention Against Torture,” a U.S. federal source told the Colombian newspaper.
The quiet departure of ‘Kiko Pobre’
The case has also renewed attention on the recent return to Colombia of Fabio Ochoa Vasco, alias “Kiko Pobre,” a former member of the Medellin Cartel who fled after an alleged betrayal of Pablo Escobar in the early 1990s. After serving a sentence in U.S. prisons, Ochoa Vasco returned to Colombia this week and quietly settled in Medellin.
Although no direct link between the two episodes has been confirmed, the timing has fueled speculation about possible pressure from U.S. authorities on former foreign criminals whose stay in the country depended on legal agreements, prior cooperation, or special protection status.
Within judicial and security sectors in Colombia, there is a growing expectation over what could happen if more former drug trafficking bosses decide — or are forced — to return to the country after years out of the public spotlight.
The cases of former capos who would be forced to leave U.S. territory would not necessarily all end with a return to Colombia, as there has been talk of third countries that could receive them: South Sudan, El Salvador, or Uganda are reportedly among the possibilities, according to El Tiempo.
What is clear is that the U.S. measure follows the logic of the Trump administration’s tougher immigration policy, which, regardless of the agreements these former capos had with the U.S. justice system, allegedly decided to expel these individuals, who must now determine their fate in barely two months.