Jhon Eduis Viáfara Mina, former player of Once Caldas and the Colombian National Team, was released in the last hours after paying a sentence in the United States, after at the end of the last decade he was accused of belonging to a drug trafficking network of the cartel called the Gulf Clan and having participated in drug trafficking between 2008 and 2016.
The information was confirmed to the newspaper The Homeland from the city of Manizales, where those close to Viáfara confirmed that he was able to leave the penitentiary center after having a reduced sentence for good behavior.
Jhon is one of the historic and renowned players of Once Caldas, after being part of the squad that won the Copa Libertadores in 2004, and score the team’s only goal in the final against Boca Juniors, from Argentina.
During his career as a midfielder, between 1998 and 2015, he played for several teams in Colombia such as Deportivo Pasto, América de Cali, Once Caldas, La Equidad, Junior de Barranquilla, Deportivo Pereira, Independiente Medellín, Deportivo Cali and Águilas Doradas.
Outside he was with Portsmouth F. C. y Southampton of England, and in the Royal Society from Spain.
He also participated with the Colombian National Team since 2003, with which he played a total of 43 games and scored one goal, which was against Switzerland in a friendly in 2007.
With the Tricolor he had participation in the Qualifiers for the World Cup in Germany 2006 and South Africa 2010, in addition to the Copa América in Peru 2004 and Venezuela 2007.
On March 20, 2019, Viáfara was captured in Cali as a member of a transnational network that would have ties to the Gulf Clan.
A year later, on January 24, 2020, he was extradited to the United States as he had an extradition request from the Eastern District Court of Texas, for the federal crime of drug trafficking.
“The court order indicates that, between 2008 and 2018, they would have associated to move shipments of cocaine through speedboats, semi-submersibles and other types of vessels that left the Colombian Pacific destined for Central America.”
In the month of December, Jhon had informed his friends and relatives that in the coming weeks he would regain his freedom. which he achieved in the last hours.
The former player, now 47 years old, initially had a sentence of 12 years, until 2032, he received a reduction of the sentence for good behavior.
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