Il Nuovo Postiglione - Suspect in murder of Colombian footballer Escobar killed in Mexico

Santiago Gallon Henao had been investigated in the death of Escobar, the Colombian national team's central defender, who was gunned down in Medellin days after scoring an own goal in a match against the United States at the 1994 World Cup.

The own goal contributed to Colombia's first-round elimination from the tournament.

The 27-year-old's murder shocked the world of football and Colombia, which at the time was plagued by violence. Medellin was controlled by drug traffickers, with a murder rate of 380 per 100,000 inhabitants.

Gallon and his brother allegedly confronted Escobar at a nightclub on July 2, 1994, just 10 days after the own goal.

The brothers' driver, Humberto Munoz Castro, admitted to shooting Escobar several times in the nightclub's parking lot. According to eyewitnesses, Munoz shouted "goal!" each time he fired. He later confessed to the killing and was sentenced to prison.

The men were thought to have lost heavily after betting on Colombia's performance at the World Cup.

Petro said on X that Gallon was killed Thursday in Mexico, and that he was responsible for Escobar's killing.

The footballer's murder "destroyed the country's international image," the leftist president said.

Gallon was shot dead in a restaurant in Huixquilucan, a municipality in the state of Mexico, a source from the Toluca prosecutor's office told AFP.

Gallon and his brother were investigated for obstruction of justice and spent 15 months in prison without being brought to trial.

They were included in a 2015 US Treasury Department blacklist for drug trafficking, accused of being members of La Oficina de Envigado, a successor to Pablo Escobar's Medellin Cartel.

H.Zampino--INP