Supreme tells you to free « tsar from smuggling » from Colombia

The Supreme Court (STJ) granted, on Monday, by majority, the request for habeas corpus submitted by Diego Marín Buitrago, a Colombian citizen known as ‘Papa Smurf’ and the ‘smuggling tsar’.

The Court ordered its immediate release, understanding that its detention had become illegal due to the pending request for international protection (asylum), not yet definitively decided by the courts.

Although the extradition of Diego Marín Buitago was authorized by the Lisbon Court of Appeal in March and confirmed by the STJ in April, the court decision cannot be executed while the asylum process is underway, which, according to Portuguese law, suspends any extradition process.

« The final decision on any extradition process that is pending is suspended while the request for international protection is under consideration, » the Supreme Court recalled in his decision, citing article 48 of Law No. 27/2008 of 30 June.

The Agency for Immigration and Mobility (AIMA) had already considered the “unfounded” asylum request in December 2024, but the Colombian appealed in court and the final decision has not yet been rendered. In the face of this uncertainty, the Supreme Court understood that « it cannot remain, without legal basis, indefinitely, the detention of the petitioner. »

The decision was made by three votes against one, and paves the way for the Court of Appeal to now evaluate any coercion measures to be applied, while its international protection request remains pending.

Marín Buitrago is accused in Colombia of leading a transnational smuggling network involving goods of millions of dollars, which is why Colombian authorities requested their extradition.