Colombian President Gustavo Petro announced Friday that a drug dealer linked to the 1994 murder of Colombian soccer star Andrés Escobar has been killed in Mexico. TASR writes about it according to an AFP report. Santiago Gallón Henao was investigated in connection with the death of Escobar, the central defender of the national team, who was shot dead in the Colombian city of Medellin a few days after scoring an own goal against the United States in the 1994 World Cup, helping to knock Colombia out of the tournament.
The murder of the 27-year-old shocked football fans and the whole of Colombia, which was plagued by violence at the time. Medellín was controlled by drug dealers and the murder rate reached 380 victims per 100,000 inhabitants. Gallón and his brother allegedly confronted Escobar in a nightclub on July 2, 1994, just 10 days after the failed fight. The brothers’ driver, Humberto Munoz Castro, later confessed that he was the one who shot Escobar several times in the nightclub parking lot. According to witnesses, Munoz shouted “goal!” after each shot. He was sentenced to imprisonment.
The Gallón brothers apparently suffered major financial losses after betting money on Colombia’s performance in the championship. President Petro wrote on Platform X that Santiago Gallón Henao was killed on Thursday in Mexico. He added that he was responsible for the murder of Escobar. According to the Colombian head of state, the event “destroyed the international image of the country”. Gallón and his brother were investigated for obstruction of justice. They were in prison for 15 months without their case going to trial.
In 2015, the US Treasury Department blacklisted them for drug trafficking and accused them of membership in the drug crime group La Oficina de Envigado – the successor organization of Pablo Escobar’s cartel.
