Dutch tourist killed in gun attack on Brazilian drug trafficker

A Dutch tourist was killed after gunmen opened fire on a Brazilian drug trafficker in a restaurant in southern Colombia, police said on Thursday.

Two gunmen on a motorbike shot dead Celso Caldas de Lima, also injuring two Brazilians sitting with him in the Amazon city of Leticia.

During the attack, a Dutch tourist sitting at a nearby table was hit and later died of her injuries in hospital, the police report said.

A police spokesperson told AFP the Dutch woman was in Leticia for tourism.

Caldas de Lima was arrested in Colombia five years ago during an anti-drug trafficking operation.

He was accused of establishing contacts between Colombia’s largest cartel, the Gulf Clan, and the Northern Family, one of the biggest crime gangs in Brazil.

Police did not reveal why Caldas de Lima, who was wanted by Interpol for drug trafficking, murder and extortion, was free.

Colombia and Brazil share a porous 1,600-kilometer (1,000-mile) jungle border over which traffickers carry cocaine made by Colombian cartels, according to authorities.

Colombia is the world’s largest producer and exporter of cocaine.