Colombian court ordered the release of ex-Medellin Cartel leader Carlos Lehder, stating the warrant against him had expired. Lehder returned to Colombia last Friday, when he tried to enter as a tourist on a flight from Germany.
The former drug kingpin was extradited to the U.S. in 1987, where he served a long prison sentence of 33 years. In 2020, the U.S. authorities deported him to Germany, the country of which he is a national and where he has resided for the past five years.
Carlos Lehder released from jail due to statute of limitations in Colombia
After being detained at the Bogota airport right after his arrival, Lehder, 75, was taken into custody to clarify whether or not there were legal cases against him.
Today, a court in Bogota ruled that the cases against the former leader of the Medellin Cartel have already expired, so there is no reason for his detention and ordered his release.
“In view of the above-mentioned arrest report and taking into account that in the order of the date the statute of limitations of the sentence imposed on the convicted Carlos Enrique Lehder Rivas was decreed, his arrest is not legalized and a release order is issued to the Criminal Investigation Directorate of the National Police and Interpol,” reads the judicial decision.
Alleged 24-year prison sentence in Colombia
The judge’s decision is based on the time that has passed since Lehder’s conviction, and the lack of actions by Colombia’s justice system to take action against the former drug trafficker while he was in the United States.
The court has therefore decided to “declare the statute of limitations of the main and accessory sentences imposed on Carlos Lehder in the present case, for the reasons indicated in the motivating part of this decision. To cancel the arrest warrants that weigh against the sentenced person due to this process, if any.”
Lehder is now free from a prison sentence that was pending in his home country, Colombia, that could last up to 24 years.
Carlos Lehder’s criminal record ended in 1987 when he was arrested and extradited to the U.S. for drug trafficking crimes. Although he was initially sentenced to 155 years in prison, the U.S. justice system finally reduced his sentence to 55 years after he testified against former Panama dictator Manuel Antonio Noriega.
In 2020 he was released for health reasons and, although he initially tried to return to Colombia, he finally opted to travel to Germany, where he was treated for prostate cancer that was diagnosed in the U.S. prison.
Following this morning’s court decision, Leader is free of any criminal charges in Colombia.
🗞️ #EsNoticia | @MigracionCol dejó a disposición de la @PoliciaColombia a Carlos Enrique Lehder Rivas, ex cabecilla del cartel de Medellín.
Lehder Rivas, quien llegó al país proveniente de Frankfurt, presentaba en nuestros sistemas de información una orden de captura vigente. pic.twitter.com/Ve9wZmwJvG— Migración Colombia (@MigracionCol) March 28, 2025
Related: Victims of Carlos Lehder’s Crimes Protest His Release in Colombia.