León Fredy Muñoz, the current ambassador of Colombia to Nicaragua, was accused of drug trafficking by his country’s prosecutor’s office on Tuesday. He is alleged to have transported 346 grams of cocaine on a domestic flight in 2018.
On May 31, 2018, police at Medellín airport (northwest Colombia) found a bag containing 146 grams of “a substance derived from cocaine” in Muñoz’s luggage, according to prosecutor Marlenne Orjuela Rodríguez during a virtual hearing before the Supreme Court of Justice.
In January 2020, investigators found an additional 200 grams of cocaine in the suitcase, according to court documents. The prosecutor requested a prison sentence of 9 to 11 years for the diplomat for the crime of drug trafficking.
At the time of his arrest, Muñoz was an elected congressman for the Green Party. He claims that the drugs were planted in his bag by a rival political group.
The Supreme Court, which took the case due to Muñoz’s status as a “high-ranking official,” will deliver its ruling in a subsequent hearing. The accusation comes at a tense time in diplomatic relations between Colombia and Nicaragua.
Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega recently criticized Colombian President Gustavo Petro and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, accusing them of being “dragged” by the European Union and the United States for not recognizing the results of the recent elections in Venezuela.
In response, Petro stated on social media, “At least I don’t drag the human rights of my country’s people.” León Fredy Muñoz was released shortly after his arrest and later took office as a legislator in the House of Representatives for the 2018-2022 term. Following Petro’s rise to power, Muñoz was appointed ambassador to Nicaragua in September 2022.
During Tuesday’s hearing, the ambassador maintained that he “didn’t even know what cocaine was.”
In July 2023, the Colombian Foreign Ministry summoned Muñoz after he was seen actively participating in a march supporting President Daniel Ortega, during a time when both countries were awaiting a decision from the International Court of Justice in The Hague regarding the maritime space of the Colombian islands of San Andrés and Providencia. The court ruled in favor of Colombia
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