WORLD : Cousin of Drug Ring Boss Killed
A police unit killed a cousin of Medellin cocaine cartel boss Pablo Escobar in a shoot-out early today, police sources said.
They said the cousin, Luis Fernando Gaviria Gomez, and an unidentified 22-year-old man died in the operation near Guarne, about 20 miles east of Colombia’s cocaine capital of Medellin.
The authorities have not previously named Gaviria Gomez as an important member of the Medellin cartel. But the killing of a relative of Escobar could threaten a truce declared by Colombia’s top drug barons July 27, which brought an end to a year of an all-out drug war in which hundreds of people died in bomb blasts and assassinations.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
