DRUGS 26
1-3e Maria Teresa Osorio De Serna
‘Ghost’ woman from Colombia takes El Chapo’s DEA most-wanted spot
Now that El Chapo is back behind bars, the “most-wanted” position of the US Drug Enforcement
Administration is up for grabs. It has reportedly been filled by Maria Teresa Osorio De Serna, a
Colombian woman wanted for money laundering and drug-trafficking.
Little is known of Osorio De Serna, whose date of birth ranges from 1950 according to the DEA in
New York to 1945 according to the DEA’s New Jersey branch. In fact, so little is known of the woman
that she has been described as “practically a ghost” by BBC Mundo.
There are no charges against De Serna in her native Colombia but in the US she is wanted for her
connection to the infamous Medellín cartel, for whom she is thought to have laundered millions of dollars.
The cartel were made famous by drug lord Pablo Escobar, who controlled a cocaine empire from
Colombia, smuggling the drug into the US until he was killed in 1993.
The DEA have little to go on in finding Osorio De Serna, whose exact involvement with the cartel is
not known. Her last known address was in Hialeah, Florida, and she is known to use the aliases
Maria Teresa Correa, Gloria Bedoya, and Iris Conde.
Rumors that Sean Penn has been enlisted to track her down are unsubstantiated.
Is Mysterious Colombian Trafficker Now World’s Most Wanted?
1-3ea Colombia Maria Teresa Osorio de Serna
Maria Teresa Osorio de Serna
Age 47
Media outlets are heralding a little-known Colombian drug trafficker as the top priority for US law
enforcement now that Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán is once again behind bars. But this stranger-than-
fiction story may be mostly fiction.
On January 11, BBC Mundo reported that Colombian national María Teresa Osorio de Serna has
become the US Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) most wanted international fugitive following
the recapture of Mexican drug lord “El Chapo” Guzman on January 8.
Osorio de Serna’s connection to the drug trade is not well-known -- even among those who follow
Colombia’s underworld closely -- except that she was a major money launderer for the once
powerful but long defunct Medellin Cartel, according to the BBC. “She is practically a ghost,” the
media outlet writes. “Almost nobody knows of her.”
How could such an unknown figure become the DEA’s top priority? The BBC based their report on
Osorio de Serna’s appearance on the anti-drug agency’s list for the Most Wanted Fugitives -
International Division, which contains only two other names: El Chapo and another little-known figure,
John Alexander Thompson, a suspected heroin traffficker whose nationality is not stated. Using this
list as evidence, BBC Mundo concludes that Thompson and Osorio de Serna have replaced El Chapo
as the DEA’s most wanted international fugitives.
Osorio de Serna’s criminal profile provides another layer of mystery and intrigue. She is wanted by
US authorities for money laundering and cocaine conspiracy, yet she has no criminal charges against
her in Colombia, according to RCN.
Shortly after the BBC Mundo article was published, Colombia’s National Police told InSight Crime
it was verifying the information it had on Osorio de Serna.
1-3f InSight Crime Analysis
Despite Osorio de Serna’s placement on the DEA’s shortlist of Most Wanted international criminals,
it is highly unlikely she has replaced El Chapo as the world’s most sought-after fugitive. Whatever her
criminal profile may be, there are a number of drug bosses across Latin America that are surely a
higher priority for US law enforcement.
One piece of evidence that points to this conclusion is the US Narcotics Rewards Program.
The program -- which is run through the Department of State -- offers no monetary reward for Osorio
de Serna, but it offers millions of dollars for information on numerous other drug traffickers from Latin
America. For instance, US authorities currently have a $5 million bounty on the head of Dario Antonio
Usuga, alias “Otoniel,” who runs the Urabeños, Colombia’s most powerful criminal organization.
The same is true for Ismael Zambada Garcia, alias “El Mayo,” the most visible leader of Mexico’s
Sinaloa Cartel now that El Chapo is once again in prison.
Another good indicator of a drug lord’s status in the US is how much they are sought after in their home
countries. The United States is a key security ally of both Colombia and Mexico, and works closely with
intelligence officials to track down the most wanted suspects like El Chapo. It should come as little
surprise then that Otoniel is the subject of a massive manhunt in Colombia, or that El Mayo is set to
become the principal target for Mexico’s security forces. It would be a major surprise, however, if
Osorio de Serna is in fact a top priority for the United States given Colombian authorities do not appear
to be making a concerted effort to capture her.
But the most sure-fire way of knowing that Osorio de Serna is not the most wanted drug fugitive is by
asking the DEA. In an e-mail, the anti-drug agency told InSight Crime that the individuals on its most
wanted lists are not ranked by priority. The DEA also pointed out that not all international fugitives appear
on the shortlist containing Osorio de Serna. El Mayo, for example, can be found on the Most Wanted
Fugitives list for the DEA’s El Paso, Texas Division.
Without more information, it is hard to know just how instrumental Osorio de Serna has been in
orchestrating and facilitating international drug shipments over the years. It is certainly not unheard
of for a woman to play a prominent role in Colombia’s underworld. Notorious drug lord Pablo Escobar
was mentored by Griselda Blanco, also known as the “Queen of Cocaine.” However, there is little evidence
to suggest Osorio de Serna has risen to become the DEA’s biggest target.
The DEA’s response opens up its own set of questions. What exactly is the purpose of a most wanted
fugitives list, if, by all appearances, it lacks coherence and is far from comprehensive? And what does
it say about the ability of US authorities to coordinate anti-drug efforts if the information on different
agencies’ websites is contradictory? The Narcotics Rewards Program, for example, lists El Mayo as
being captured, despite his profile on the DEA’s most wanted fugitives list. (In addition to being
misinformed, the Narcotics Rewards Program is also severely outdated: Héctor Beltrán Leyva, alias
“El H,” is still classified as “wanted.” Beltrán Leyva, the head of Mexico’s once-powerful Beltrán Leyva
Organization, was arrested in October 2014.)
Ultimately, the BBC Mundo story tells us less about about a shadowy figure in Colombia’s underworld
than it does about the organizational weaknesses of US anti-drug authorities. Whether these errors are
aberrations or speak to a larger problem within the DEA and other anti-drug agencies is a much more
interesting question, but one that doesn’t have a ready answer.
A remarkable “guest” in this book is this gentleman.
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