BOGOTA (Reuters) -Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela, a former chief of Colombia’s once-powerful Cali cartel, has died in america whereas serving a 30-year drug trafficking sentence, his household stated on Wednesday.

Typically recognized by his alias ‘Chessplayer,’ Rodriguez was extradited to america in 2004. The 83-year-old was serving time at a federal jail in Butner, North Carolina.

“The kids and spouse of Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela regretfully inform that yesterday, Tuesday Could 31, 2022, at 6:54 p.m., our father and husband died of a lymphoma,” the household stated in a press release shared by Rodriguez’s daughter Alexandra.

They had been starting the method of extraditing his stays again to Colombia, his household stated.

Rodriguez’s 1995 arrest by Colombian authorities marked the start of the disintegration of the Cali cartel, which as soon as managed 80% of the worldwide cocaine market, in keeping with a up to date report from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

Rodriguez’s brother Miguel was captured two months later and can also be serving a sentence in america.

The brothers deployed bombs and vigilantes towards their drug trafficker enemy Pablo Escobar, who was killed in a police operation in 1993, and his associates.

In addition they confessed to financing political campaigns, together with that of Liberal Social gathering president Ernesto Samper in 1994, who has denied having any information of the donations on the time.