WORLD : Colombia Court Official Who Ruled Against Cocaine Cartel Shot Down
A court magistrate who ruled against two leaders of the notorious Medellin cocaine cartel was shot to death as he left work, police said today.
“The nightmare of drug trafficking has occurred once again,” said Gen. Miguel Maza Marquez, chief of the secret police in Bogota.
Maza Marquez said gunmen driving by on two motorcycles and in a taxi opened fire with machine guns on Magistrate Carlos Valencia Garcia on Wednesday night as he left his office in central Bogota.
Valencia Garcia, 43, was shot six times and died a short while later at a hospital. Police said one of Garcia’s bodyguards was wounded in the attack along with one of the gunmen, who escaped.
Maza Marquez blamed assassins hired by drug traffickers.
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