Luis Enrique Calle Serna was a leader in the feared and ambitious Rastrojos criminal organization in Colombia. He surrendered to US authorities in Panama on October 2, 2012, and was sentenced to nine years in prison by a US court on February 10, 2017.

History

Calle Serna was a top leader of the Rastrojos criminal syndicate in Colombia, perhaps the country’s most ambitious and sophisticated drug trafficking organization. His older brother, Javier Antonio Calle Serna, alias ‘Comba’ was the top leader of the Rastrojos until handing himself over to the US in May 2012 and some say Luis may have ridden his coat tails into the Colombian underworld. Still, with experience overseeing cocaine laboratories along the Pacific Coast and connections to Mexican drug cartels, in particular the powerful Sinaloa Cartel, he commanded respect. He is a trained pilot.

Luis E. Calle Serna Factbox

DOB: August 16, 1976

Group:  Rastrojos

Criminal Activities: Drug trafficking

Status: Captured

Area of Operation: Ecuador and Colombia’s Pacific Coast

After reportedly negotiating his surrender for months with the United States, he handed himself over on October 2, 2012 in Panama. He was eventually sentenced to nine years in prison by a New York court as part of a plea deal in February 2017.

Criminal Activities

Calle Serna was a leader of the Rastrojos, which until recently was one of Colombia’s largest drug trafficking organizations. The Rastrojos are also involved in extortion and kidnapping, as well as illegal mining.

Geography

Calle Serna kept a low profile and was believed to have operated out of Ecuador and along the Pacific Coast in Colombia where much of the Rastrojos’ operations are based. He had been living in Venezuela immediately prior to his arrest.

Allies and Enemies

Calle Serna worked closely with his brother, Comba, to establish the Rastrojos as one of Colombia’s most powerful drug trafficking organizations. However, shortly before their arrest, the Calle Serna brothers were reportedly at odds with Diego Rastrojo over whether or not to turn themselves, creating two competing factions within the criminal organization.

Prospects

Since Calle Serna has been in US custody since 2012, he could be released as early as 2020. But his freedom may be short lived, as the United States will deport him back to Colombia where he is expected face charges of criminal association and drug trafficking.