The mafia rabbit

Harold Mauricio Poveda Ortega is a complete unknown for Colombians. But in the Colombian and Mexican drug cartel world his name and his alias “El Conejo,” (the rabbit) are fairly commonly known. There’s a reason for that. Originally from Tuluá in the Valle de Cauca department, he is considered by international anti-drug authorities as the biggest supplier of cocaine to powerful criminal organizations in Mexico. In the underground of that country, “El Conejo” is not only famous for supplying cocaine. He got a large part of his income and his good contacts with the Mexican mafia because he is also the main “provider” of Colombian prostitutes for drug barons.

The story of “El Conejo” in the drug trafficking business goes back to early 2000 when he joined the Diego León Montoya, alias “Don Diego,” organization. Back then, his mission was to be the link between the Norte del Valle cartel, from the Valle de Cauca department in Colombia, and the Sinaloa cartel in Mexico, led by Joaquín “Chapo” Guzmán. Part of his job was also to make sure that the shipments would arrive without problems in Mexico. “El Conejo” won the confidence of the Mexicans and took advantage that some of the mafia leaders there had a special affinity for Colombian women when they held parties and bacchanals. That was when “El Conejo” decided to “open up a new line of business:” to bring in women from Colombia.

In 2003 the Colombian police pursuit of “Don Diego” forced that mafia boss to relegate many of his activities to deputies, among them “El Conejo.” He leapt at the opportunity and took over some of the routes and contacts of “Don Diego” in Mexico. The public first heard his name on June 11, 2003, when the Colombian soccer player Carlos Álvarez was arrested at the Mexico City airport when he was caught trying to return to Bogotá with a million dollars in cash.

The money, he confessed, was from “El Conejo” and was part of a payment for a shipment that the Colombian drug trafficker had made for the mafia boss Arturo Beltrán Leyva, alias “Barbas,” current head of the Golfo cartel in Mexico. In spite of that incident five years ago, since then “El Conejo” has become the main supplier of cocaine and women for the Beltrán Leyva organization. The use of prostitutes by the drug trafficker is not just for fun. After going to wild parties, “El Conejo” would send these women back to Colombia loaded down with dollars. Mexican authorities estimate that each month he could be entering about a ton of cocaine and that his activities produce “profits” of nearly 40 million dollars.

At the end of last October, his name reappeared. That time it was because of an operation by authorities who raided a luxurious mansion that belonged to the Colombian in the suburbs of Mexico City. Nearly 30 people were arrested in the operation, the majority of them Colombian. Among them was a group of prostitutes who had been brought in for a “narcofiesta,” – a drug trafficker’s party. The Colombian’s eccentricities have astonished the Mexicans. In addition to a fleet of 15 vehicles, at his mansion he had, in a style reminiscent of Pablo Escobar, a small zoo with two African lions, a Siberian tiger and two panthers, among other animals.

Although Poveda was able to escape a few minutes before the bust, the Mexicans arrested his main deputies, his father and his wife. As the popular Colombian expression goes, “Les hizo conejo” - he pulled a fast one on them.