ICE Orlando arrests Colombian drug lord wanted for 29 known murders

ORLANDO, Fla. — An ICE Homeland Security Task Force in Orlando arrested Guillermo Perez Alzate, a confessed murderer and criminal alien from Colombia. Perez is a former paramilitary leader of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, a transnational criminal organization that uses drugs to finance its illegal activities. Perez is wanted for his alleged involvement in 29 murders and related crimes.

In May 2008, Perez was extradited to the United States and arrested by U.S. authorities to face drug smuggling charges with 13 other alleged members of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia. Perez and the organization used drugs to finance their illegal activities, including smuggling cocaine into the U.S. Perez was sentenced to 17 years in prison for conspiracy to import and traffic cocaine in Florida. During his trial in Florida, Perez admitted to a judge that he murdered 29 people.

In October 2009, correctional officers at Georgia’s McRae Correctional Institution arrested Perez for conspiracy to import cocaine into the U.S.

An immigration judge in Orlando ordered Perez removed from the U.S., but his removal was deferred on Aug. 9, 2016. In 2017, an immigration judge upheld that final order, and again ordered his removal; however, the decision was deferred.

In September 2020, Perez was arrested by Interpol’s Department of Justice Washington for a warrant for arrest from a foreign county.

The HSTF agencies involved in this arrest are HSI Orlando, Enforcement and Removal Operations Orlando, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. Marshals Service, the IRS and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.