Hours after announcing they caught a leader of the Cali drug cartel, police acknowledged Wednesday they had arrested the wrong man.
Authorities had said they captured Phanor Arizabaleta, a 57-year-old rancher believed to be among the more violent leaders of the cartel, which supplies 80 percent of the world's cocaine.But later in the day the prosecutor's office admitted authorities didn't have Arizabaleta in custody.
"It is not Phanor Arizabaleta," said Maj. Victor Pinzon, spokesman for national police. "It looks like he (the suspect) is a Venezuelan pilot who works for the Cali cartel."
The suspect, Dennis Espina Rodriguez, was being held without charges. A spokeswoman for the secret police said he identified himself as Arizabaleta when he was arrested but the fingerprints didn't match.
Defense Minister Fernando Botero and Ramiro Bejarano, head of the secret police, had said Arizabaleta was arrested Tuesday night in a house in Valledupar, 400 miles north of Bogota.
Bogota newspapers carried front-page headlines this announcing Arizabaleta's arrest. Authorities did not offer an explanation for the mixup.