Can you help me find some details about a drug lord's private island?

March 5, 2013 12:33 PM

In 2007, a Colombian drug lord named Juan Carlos Ramírez Abadía, aka "Chupeta" (Lollipop) was arrested and his assets seized, including, according to a few articles, a private island off the coast of Cartagena. I can't find any additional information about this island. Can you?

The island is never named (some articles don't mention it at all), and no details about the island are given, except that it's off the coast of Cartagena.

Example.

I sort of suspect it was mistakenly reported or surely there would be more info. But! If this guy did have his own island, I'd like to find some details about it for an article I'm writing about criminals who have islands. Islands of crime.

This guy's empire was in the neighborhood of $2 billion, so I have to imagine that if he had his own island it was completely awesome, and I want to know about it. Thanks for any help!

posted by notmydesk to Grab Bag (5 answers total)

There are a ton of private islands on the carribean coast. Some of them are not very big, like just sandbars with a cabin on them. I wouldn't necessarily expect anything too dramatic. Maybe a few acres of sand amd palm trees, a big house with a dock and a pool.
posted by empath at 12:39 PM on March 5, 2013 [1 favorite]

I think (spanish) it's one of the islands of the archipelago they call Islas de Rosario.
posted by dhruva at 1:22 PM on March 5, 2013

This says the size was 4000 m², or about 1 acre (or about the size of the playing part of a football field).
posted by dhartung at 3:36 PM on March 5, 2013

Best answer: Here are some photos, but still no name.
posted by dhruva at 7:34 PM on March 5, 2013

Best answer: This is surely not the right island, but it's about the right size. Check the scale-- you want an island roughly 64 by 64 meters. Change the scale to browse the rest of the Islas del Rosario.

This may help; it's supposedly pictures of Chupeta's "sumptuous" estate, with a "luxurious cabaña with pools and all the amenities".
posted by zompist at 12:11 AM on March 6, 2013