26
3
Cowering British suspect druglord Andrew Deamer climbs down from his attic bolt-hole after being busted in a dramatic 6am raid by Colombian forces.
Wearing shorts and T-shirt, he had darted into the secret hideaway after realising anti-narcotics agents and army and navy troops were closing in on his remote farmhouse.
Deamer, 52, was held along with his glamorous second wife Marcela Zapata, 37, in a swoop which smashed a £354million drugs ring.
The raid was in Rionegro, 20 miles from Medellin and in the heartlands where cocaine king Pablo Escobar once ruled.
Deamer had worked his way into the confidence of the vicious cartels and one former US drugs enforcer – who estimated the Brit could be involved in drugs worth £1.2billion – said: “He put his head into the lion’s mouth.”
Colombia’s Attorney General’s office allege Deamer is behind tons of cocaine sent to the UK, Europe and the US.
He is suspected of having a string of Breaking Bad-style labs where the cocaine could be chemically disguised – some of it as dog food, cat food and fertiliser.
It was cooked with essences and dyes, then the cocaine was extracted once delivered.
Deamer is now locked up in Bogota’s notorious La Picota jail after local authorities said he had signed a “preliminary agreement” to assist them in return for a lighter sentence – 14 years and eight months.