Alias ‘Papa Pitufo,’ Identified as Colombia’s Smuggling Kingpin, Sued the State
In an unusual development, the alleged ‘smuggling kingpin’ in Colombia, Diego Marin Buitrago, also known by the alias ‘Papa Pitufo,’ would have sued the Colombian state because the arrest warrant against him allegedly caused psychological harm to him and his family.
Marin Buitrago would have stated that he suffers from distress, anguish, anxiety, depression, uncertainty, and emotional and psychological problems, as does his wife, Liset Samboni, and their three children. All of them supposedly suffer from psychological problems resulting from the criminal proceedings that led to Marin Buitrago being requested for extradition from Portugal.
This was reported by Cambio magazine, which says that Marin Buitrago is demanding nearly 700 million pesos (US$225,000) from the Colombian state for alleged irregularities that supposedly occurred in his arrest warrant.
He fled Spain and made it to Portugal
Specifically, Marin Buitrago’s lawsuit would be against authorities involved in his case, such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Attorney General’s Office, the Ministry of Justice, and the judicial branch. All of them would be accused of having caused him the alleged damages for which he would be seeking compensation.
According to Cambio, the lawsuit filed by alias ‘Papa Pitufo’ would question the fact that the same judicial order was used twice to arrest him. The first time in Spain, on April 5, 2024, and the second in Portugal, on Dec. 3 of that same year.
Marin Buitrago took advantage of his conditional release in Spain to flee to Portugal, where he was recaptured. He is now wanted for extradition by Colombia, where he faces a sentence of up to 27 years for conspiracy to commit a crime and bribery to give or offer.
He has already been called to trial for allegedly leading for years a network dedicated to smuggling that bribed officers of the Fiscal and Customs Police (POLFA).
Marin Buitrago’s name has also been heard in connection with his approaches to Gustavo Petro’s campaign and his government. Among these episodes were the meetings between former intelligence director Jorge Lemus and lawyer Luis Felipe Ramirez, at the time Marin’s defense attorney.
Lawyer alleges errors in arrest warrant
Marin Buitrago’s multimillion-peso lawsuit against the Colombian State is before the 38th Administrative Court of Bogota.
William Mejia, Marin Buitrago’s lawyer, would be arguing that the arrest warrant against his client could only be issued when there was a ruling resolving his legal situation, since Marin was in Spain, a country of which he is also a citizen.
In other words, an arrest warrant could not have been issued against someone abroad without a preventive detention order, sentence, or final indictment.
Since the indictment took place months after his international arrests and his formal accusation was not made until November 2025, the lawyer says that a “judicial error” was committed by requesting an arrest warrant for the purposes of indictment and a preventive detention order, processing it simultaneously with an Interpol red notice.
Because of this alleged irregularity, Mejia considers that the Judicial Branch, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Attorney General’s Office, and the Ministry of Justice should be financially liable for affecting Buitrago’s freedom, peace of mind, good name, emotional stability, and family unit.
For the lawyer, the lawsuit would not question the existence of the investigation against Marin Buitrago, but would reproach the fact that, allegedly, the special rules for international coordination and extradition were not followed when issuing the arrest warrant.