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Convicted Colombian drug-traffickers go missing in Portugal
Original Publication Date: May 5, 2016 8:50PM
Publication Updated: April 28, 2025 11:10AM
LISBON, Portugal – A lawyer for two Colombians convicted in Portugal of drug-trafficking says the pair are missing after being released from prison while their appeals are being considered.
Tiago Melo Alves told The Associated Press that Macias Nieto and Edil Luna, who were pursued by Interpol and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency before their 2012 arrest by Portuguese police, have stopped reporting to authorities, as required by the terms of their release. Authorities had confiscated their passports.
Melo Alves said Friday he was informed by a court that the men vanished after leaving a Lisbon high-security prison last month.
Nieto and Luna were captured with 340 kilograms (750 pounds) of cocaine and sentenced to 11 and 8 1/2 years in prison, respectively. Prison release while awaiting an appeal decision is customary in Portugal.
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