Dandeny Muñoz Mosquera

Dandeny Muñoz Mosquera
Mugshot of Dandeny Muñoz Mosquera "La Quica"
Born	Dandeny Muñoz Mosquera Medellin, Colombia
Nationality	Colombian
Other names	La Quica
Criminal charge	Terrorism, murder, drug trafficking, forgery
Criminal penalty	Ten consecutive life sentences plus 45 years
Criminal status	Captured

Dandeny Muñoz Mosquera, also known as "La Quica" (Colombian slang for "the fat girl") was purported to be the chief assassin for the Medellín Cartel of Colombia. He was responsible for the deaths of an unknown number of people (estimates range in the hundreds), having supposedly murdered members of both the Medellín Cartel and the rival Cali Cartel, as well as police officers and government officials. Among his crimes is the 1989 bombing of Avianca Flight 203, which killed 110 civilians. He is described as "the Al Capone of the drug-murder circuit".

In 1991, Mosquera was arrested in Queens, New York for traveling with a fake passport. He was convicted and sentenced to six years in jail.

While he was in jail, federal prosecutors claimed that he was a major player in the Medellín Cartel and the bombing of Avianca Flight 203. Muñoz Mosquera was charged with “conspiracy to import and distribute cocaine, substantive importation of cocaine, participating and conspiring to participate in a racketeering enterprise, engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise, various offenses relating to the bombing of a civilian airliner and the extraterritorial murder of two citizens of the United States."

His first trial was declared a mistrial. In his second trial, he was convicted on all counts and sentenced to 10 life sentences plus 45 years, all to be served consecutively. He is currently incarcerated at United States Penitentiary, Lee, in Virginia.

While Mosquera was convicted of the Avianca bombing, his involvement in the bombing was questioned by Colombian Attorney General Gustavo de Greiff, who sent a letter to Judge Sterling Johnson before the final trial, stating: "I felt necessary to inform you...with the intention to avoid the miscarriage of justice in the case you have in your hands. We have no evidence linking Mr. Muñoz Mosquera to that attack." De Greiff was accused by United States officials of being involved financially in the cocaine trade.

The Colombian government initially suspected Gonzalo Rodríguez Gacha a.k.a. "The Mexican". Carlos Maria Alzate had also been blamed for the bombing and had confessed to the crime before Mosquera was put on trial.