Carlos Alberto "Beto" Rentería Mantilla (11 March 1945;

Tuluá Tuluá (), is a city located in the heart of Valle del Cauca, Colombia. A major industrial and commercial center, it is the region's fourth-largest city after Cali—the department capital— Palmira and Buenaventura. Founded around 1741 by Juan ...

– 16 September 2020;

, Valle del Cauca) was a former

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

n narcotrafficker and

crime boss A crime boss, also known as a crime lord, mafia don, mob boss, kingpin, or godfather is the leader of a criminal organization. Description A crime boss has absolute or nearly absolute control over the other members of the organization and is ...

, presumed leader of the

Norte del Valle Cartel The Norte del Valle Cartel (), or North Valley Cartel, was a drug cartel that operated principally in the north of the Valle del Cauca department of Colombia, most notably the coastal city of Buenaventura. It rose to prominence during the 1990 ...

. Rentería was believed by the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

government to be holding a leadership position within the drug cartel, he had been labeled "one of Colombia's most powerful and sophisticated narcotics traffickers" by Adam Szubin, Director of the

Office of Foreign Assets Control The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is a financial intelligence and enforcement agency of the United States Department of the Treasury, United States Treasury Department. It administers and enforces economic and trade economic sanctions, ...

United States Department of the Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the Treasury, national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States. It is one of 15 current United States federal executive departments, U.S. government departments. ...

. The Attorney General of Colombia and the Colombian National Police accuse Rentería of drug trafficking and money laundering.

Role

As chief in the Norte del Valle Cartel, it is believed Rentería shared in the decision making of the cartel in aspects of transportation of drug shipments,

bribery Bribery is the corrupt solicitation, payment, or Offer and acceptance, acceptance of a private favor (a bribe) in exchange for official action. The purpose of a bribe is to influence the actions of the recipient, a person in charge of an official ...

of political officials and

assassination Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...

s. Rentería also operated his own organization under the Cartel capable of multi-ton cocaine shipments, as well as investing in other cocaine smuggling transports. The Norte del Valle cartel operates principally out of the North Valle del Cauca region. It is believed the cocaine is shipped from around the neighboring Colombian Departments as well as

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

and other

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n countries before being transported again via trucks and airplanes to the Pacific Coast port of

Buenaventura, Colombia Buenaventura is a coastal seaport city located in the Pacific/Chocó natural region, Pacific Region of the department of Valle del Cauca, Colombia (South America). Buenaventura (Spanish for "good fortune") is the main port of Colombia in the Pacifi ...

. From Buenaventura the cocaine, through Renterías' operation, is primary transported to

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

before being shipped again to the United States via

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fishing vessel A fishing vessel is a boat or ship used to fishing, catch fish and other valuable nektonic aquatic animals (e.g. shrimps/prawns, krills, coleoids, etc.) in the sea, lake or river. Humans have used different kinds of surface vessels in commercial ...

s, and other maritime shipping methods.

Government actions

Law enforcement

While it is believed Rentería had been involved in drug trafficking since the 1970s, the first

indictment An indictment ( ) is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that use the concept of felonies, the most serious criminal offense is a felony; jurisdictions that do not use that concept often use that of an ind ...

regarding Rentería was unsealed in 1994 in the Southern District of Florida, charging Rentería with conspiracy to import, possess and distribute cocaine in the United States. In 2004 an indictment was unsealed in the District Court for the District of Columbia, charging Rentería with violating the

Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act is a United States federal law that provides for extended criminal penalties and a civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization. RICO was e ...

(RICO). In addition to the indictments a reward of $5 million was placed for information leading to the capture of Rentería.

Finances

Beginning on March 17, 2005, the United States Department of Treasury announced its first actions targeting the financial holdings of Rentería. In 2005 Rentería was first declared a Specially Designated Narcotics Trafficker, the label permits the United States to seize assets connected to Rentería through front companies and associates. Since 2005 the Department of Treasury had announced over seven actions targeting Renterías financial holdings. The companies designated range from agricultural, clinics, hotels, accounting firms and the Colombian soccer team Cortuluá. It is believed Renterías' money contributed significantly to the economic growth in the area, as business operations, hotels and clinics began to be built to launder his money through. On September 1, 2006, Colombian authorities confiscated around 34 properties in the northern Caribbean region, mainly in the city of Cartagena and in other regions of Colombia; in the capital

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and near his major area of operations; Valle del Cauca Department. The operation was dubbed "Patria 44" by the Colombian Central Directorate of the Judicial Police and Intelligence (DIJIN).

Arrest and extradition

On July 4, 2010, at 4:00 p.m. Mantilla was captured in Venezuela by local security forces with the assistance of British intelligence services. He was extradited to the United States on July 13, 2010.

Popular culture

Rentería is portrayed by Colombian actor Luis Fernando Montoya as the character of 'The Primo' (the cousin) in the second season of TV Series '' El Cartel'' as the cousin of Milton Jimenez 'El Cabo' (

Wilber Varela Wilber Alirio Varela Fajardo (November 6, 1957 – 2008), also known as ''Jabón'' ("Soap"), was a Colombian drug trafficker. He was the leader of the Norte del Valle Cartel. A Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act indictment was ...

'Jabón'), although in the series 'Primo' is killed in

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

by the corrupt General Morales.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Renteria Mantilla, Carlos Alberto 1945 births Colombian drug traffickers Living people Norte del Valle Cartel traffickers Colombian people imprisoned abroad People extradited from Venezuela People extradited to the United States Foreign nationals imprisoned in the United States People from Valle del Cauca Department Prisoners and detainees of the United States federal government Norte del Valle Cartel