Juan Matta-Ballesteros
| Juan Ramon Matta Ballesteros | |
|---|---|
| Born |
January 12, 1945 Tegucigalpa, Honduras |
| Nationality | Honduran |
| Other names | El Negro |
| Occupation | former Drug lord, Medellín Cartel |
| Criminal charge | Drug trafficking, murder, kidnapping |
| Criminal status | Incarcerated |
| Spouse(s) | Nancy de Matta |
| Children | Claudia Matta, Juan Ramón Matta, and Maria Matta |
Juan Ramón Matta-Ballesteros (born on January 12, 1945) (also spelled Mata-Ballesteros) was a major narcotics trafficker who has been credited with being one of the first to connect Mexican drug traffickers with the Colombian cocaine cartels. This connection paved the way for a major increase in the amount of cocaine smuggled into the United States during the late 70s and throughout the 1980s. Matta was indicted for operating several major cocaine smuggling rings in United States in the early 1980s. He was also one of the narcotics traffickers accused of the kidnap and assassination of American DEA agent Enrique Camarena in 1985.
In 1988 Mata was abducted from his Honduran residence in a controversial operation by the Honduran and American governments and taken to the United States, where he stood several trials for his drug smuggling activities and his part in the kidnap and murder of Enrique Camarena. He was found guilty of drug smuggling, and of participating in the kidnapping, but not the murder, of Camarena. Matta is currently serving multiple life sentences at the United States Penitentiary, Canaan, a high-security federal prison in Pennsylvania.
Details of Matta's early life and career are uncertain. According to a website put up by his family, he was born in Tegucigalpa, the second of four children. A number of newspaper sources claim that Mata immigrated illegally to the United States as a teenager and was deported several times, returning each time under a different name. In 1970 he was convicted of entering the country on a false passport and confined at the Federal prison camp in Eglin, Florida. He escaped from the camp the following year. In 1974 Mexican authorities arrested Matta for selling 10 kilos of cocaine. He spent a year in prison, and was suspected of killing two other prisoners while incarcerated.
In the early 1980s, Matta was involved with major cocaine smuggling operations. In 1984, he was indicted for his role in a Van Nuys smuggling ring. The discovery of the ring in 1981 resulted in the seizure of 114 pounds of cocaine and $1.9 million in cash, and based on ledgers found with the drugs, prosecutors later estimated that the ring had generated $73 million in just nine months. In 1985, Matta was again indicted for his role in a major cocaine smuggling ring operating in Arizona and southern California. The ring was discovered in 1984, resulting in the seizure of about a ton of cocaine and $7.8 million in cash.
Soon after the February 1985 kidnap-murder of U.S. DEA agent Enrique Camarena, Matta was suspected of involvement, and he was later indicted for his part in the kidnapping. According to writer Elaine Shannon, Matta was actually located in Mexico City several days after Caramena's kidnapping, but his arrest was delayed by Mexican authorities and he managed to flee the country. U. S. law enforcement continued to track Matta, and in April 1985, they traced him to the Colombian city of Cartagena. At the DEA's request, Matta was arrested by the Colombian government. In March 1986, while extradition proceedings were still underway, Matta escaped from prison, according to some accounts by bribing prison authorities. Later that year, Matta returned to his native country of Honduras.
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