These are the eccentricities that gave the air traffic controller linked to drug trafficking

From an unknown date and until May 30, 2019, in Colombia and Mexico, and other countries, Martha Elizabeth Orozco, alias “Martha”, in collaboration with other parties involved, arranged and agreed between them knowingly and intentionally distributing shipments of cocaine in the United States.

The woman, originally from Bogotá, worked as a controller in front of the radars of the Ernesto Cortissoz Airport, which is located in Soledad and serves Barranquilla, Colombia. His capture took place in September 2019, after Orozco made a mistake and was exposed by spending millionaire figures, which did not match his salary, in casinos and supermarkets.

The woman earned a salary of $ 3,338,058 and went extensively to casinos in Barranquilla where, with credit cards, to bank transactions exceeding $ 2 million in one day. All of this played a key role in the investigation. “Where did the woman get so much money from?” Asked a source who collaborated with the authorities.

Recently, a Supreme Court of Justice ruling upheld the woman’s extradition request to the United States. According to this report, Orozco used his position as air traffic controller to clear planes apparently drug traffickers entering and exiting Colombian airspace and to achieve this, he bribed other air traffic controllers.

After an incident that occurred on November 5, 2017, when a white Cessna 182 plane flew over the Caribbean coast “with illegal intentions” and a few minutes later it was shot down on an illegal runway of a farm in Pivijay, members of the Dijin and the DEA opened an investigation into which Martha fell.

They found 515 kilograms of cocaine in that plane, which is why authorities opened an investigation into the controllers, as they suspected the situation had not been properly reported. After intercepting a few calls and monitoring the movements of Martha Elizabeth Orozco and her colleagues, they were able to determine that The woman made shift changes so that drug-laden planes could pass unrelatedly.

However, that day, the woman was unable to change her shift, which resulted in the seizure of the goods by the authorities.

During the investigations, the authorities succeeded in establishing that, on 23 October 2017, in a telephone communication, the controller ordered one of her colleagues to change shifts and make sure and other corrupt air traffic controllers could be involved. in order to allow the smooth entry of the aircraft from Colombian airspace upon arrival.

On October 27, 2017, using coded language in a telephone communication, the defendants and Martha Orozco discussed possible dates for cocaine shipments, depending on the ability of the controller to coordinate airport changes and thus allow the safe passage of the aircraft carrying the cargo of cocaine.

Orozco Acevedo was part of the Atlantic Regional Air Navigation Group unit and the standard achieved during his post was “exceptional”. His date of joining Aerocivil was given in November 1988 and his curriculum vitae on the Civil Service page points out that Orozco has a high school education. In 2001, it was activated on radar.

The person involved was part of an illegal network in Barranquilla which was associated with the Sinaloa cartel, Mexico, and drug thefts, authorized by it, departed once a month.

Orozco was scheduled to appear in U.S. Court for the Central District of California, based on Indictment No. 19CR00328-GW issued on May 30, 201940, whereby she is charged with the charges of concerted committing a crime for trafficking. , manufacture or possession of narcotics.

For its part, Orozco’s defense said that it is not possible to declare the formal validity of the documentation presented by the US government embassy. to support the extradition request, as she was accused in absentia in the requesting country, which implies that her right of defense was violated.

The defense of the controller also ensured that the text of the accusation did not demonstrate what are the illegal acts that the requested party has committed, which implies that the charges contained “They are abstract, and this decision cannot be equated with the figure of the resolution of the indictment provided for by Colombian procedural law”.

Orozco’s lawyer added that the foreign accusation does not indicate what the supporting evidence is, and that a reasonable inference of paternity or participation cannot be drawn from it to justify his deprivation of liberty.

The defense claims were ignored by the Supreme Court, which ultimately approved the extradition request of the former Aerocivil official. Currently, the 56-year-old woman is being held in the extradition section of El Buen Pastor prison in Bogotá.

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