Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Druglord Slain, Evil Twin Survives

We finally have a real-life case of the dreaded evil twin.
A COLOMBIAN drug lord gunned down in a shootout with police this week was in fact the man's twin brother, officials say.

The dead man was also one of the country's most wanted cocaine traffickers.

Authorities on Tuesday said Miguel Angel Mejia was killed at a farm in northern Colombia but on Wednesday officials said fingerprints showed the slain man was Victor Manuel Mejia, also wanted for extradition to the United States on drug charges.

"At the moment he was shot by the police, Victor Mejia was carrying documents of his twin brother," the police said in a statement. "This was a strategy they often used to confuse even the members of their own security teams."

The brothers had been members of a paramilitary group that disbanded under a peace deal with President Alvaro Uribe. The Mejia twins refused to surrender to serve prison terms under the agreement and continued drug trafficking, officials say.

Washington offering a $5 million reward for their capture.

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