Colombia Arrests Eight Sought by U.S. in Drug and Money Laundering Case

Colombia’s attorney general’s office said authorities arrested eight people on Oct. 21 in a coordinated operation with U.S. authorities. The United States had sought their extradition over drug trafficking and money laundering allegations.

The office identified Nassim Orfale Vásquez as suspected of helping launder drug proceeds through cryptocurrency. It said the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation unit had tracked his financial activity since 2018 and identified about $42 million in suspicious crypto transactions.

The office also alleged that the other seven suspects used tokens, repeated transfers to third parties and split deposits to conceal the source of drug money. Formal extradition proceedings for all eight are underway.