René Higuita Fights Seizure of Property Linked to Medellín Cartel

Colombian football icon René Higuita is challenging a court's decision to seize a property he purchased over three decades ago. The specialized asset forfeiture court ruled on July 3rd that the house, located in Medellín's El Poblado sector and valued at more than 1.2 billion pesos (approximately $300,000 USD), was linked to the Medellín Cartel and should be transferred to the state.

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the house that the goalkeeper acquired more than 30 years ago would pass into the hands of the State after establishing that it was linked to the Medellín Cartel.

Higuita and his wife, Magnolia Echeverri, acquired the property in 1992 through a barter agreement, exchanging two of their own properties for it. The legal proceedings stemmed from a 1997 denunciation by Albeiro de Jesús Cuartas Castañeda, whose father, Gustavo Cuartas Rendón, was allegedly murdered by the Medellín Cartel. The Fiscalía General de la Nación reconstructed the events, suggesting Cuartas Rendón, an associate of Pablo Escobar's partners, acted as a front for the cartel, holding the house in his name to conceal drug trafficking proceeds.

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the property had been acquired in a completely legal manner, acting in good faith and with resources from his work.

Following Cuartas Rendón's assassination, his signature was reportedly forged, and the property eventually passed to María Victoria Montoya Álzate before being exchanged with Higuita and his wife. Despite the judge acknowledging Higuita as a third party acting in good faith, the property was still seized. Higuita, who now serves on Atlético Nacional's coaching staff, stated that he acquired the property legally and with funds from his work. He only became aware of the property's alleged ties to the Medellín Cartel several years after the transaction was completed.

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it was only several years after closing the deal that he found out that the property was linked to the activity of the defunct Medellín Cartel.