“DEA Informant or Criminal Kingpin? The Rise and Fall of Colombia’s ‘Contraband Czar’”

Diego Marín, a once-untouchable Colombian money launderer with ties to the Cali cartel, ran a global criminal empire worth $100 million a year—allegedly with the help of corrupt U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents.

For years, the DEA claimed Marín was a top target. In reality, he infiltrated the agency, corrupting agents with bribes, prostitutes, and lavish gifts. An Associated Press investigation revealed that one agent, José Irizarry, secretly aided Marín while pretending to pursue him, even converting him into an informant.

Through this relationship, Marín expanded his trade-based money laundering network, using offshore companies and misvalued cargo to move drug profits. Irizarry helped Marín evade law enforcement, launder DEA money, and live extravagantly using funds from a DEA operation ironically named “White Wash.”

Despite DEA claims of success, a 2020 audit showed the operation yielded few actual arrests and lost track of $19 million. Meanwhile, Marín provided gifts—including a private jet and $125,000—to Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s campaign, prompting widespread political scandal.

Marín was finally arrested in Spain in 2023 for bribery but fled to Portugal, where he is seeking asylum. Irizarry was sentenced to over 12 years in prison, though other implicated DEA agents avoided charges.

Former investigators liken the case to the FBI’s infamous dealings with mobster Whitey Bulger. As retired Colombian General Juan Carlos Buitrago put it, “They ended up creating a monster.”