Leader of Colombian Terrorist Organization AUC Pleads Guilty

MANHATTAN, NY - MICHELE M. LEONHART, the Acting Administrator of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”) and MICHAEL J. GARCIA, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced the guilty plea of DIEGO FERNANDO MURILLO-BEJARANO, a/k/a "Don Berna," a/k/a "Don Bernardo," a/k/a "Adolfo Paz," the top leader of the Autodefensas Unidas De Colombia ("AUC"), a former Colombian paramilitary group designated by the United States Department of State as a foreign terrorist organization. MURILLO-BEJARANO pleaded guilty today before United States District Judge RICHARD M. BERMAN to conspiring to import multi-ton quantities of cocaine into the United States.

“The extradition and guilty plea of Diego Murillo-Bejarano represent a monumental defeat to the leadership of the AUC,” said DEA Acting Administrator MICHELE M. LEONHART. “It further demonstrates the strength in partnership between the DEA and Colombian law enforcement. American and Colombian communities are safer with the removal of this notorious drug kingpin.”