Luis Hernando Gómez

Luis Hernando Gómez Bustamante (born March 14, 1958) is a Colombian drug trafficker for the Norte del Valle Cartel, who was arrested in 2004 and, on July 19, 2007 transported for extradition to the United States on charges of money laundering and drug smuggling. Gomez, also known as "Rasguño" is reported to have received his nickname after dismissing the wound caused by being grazed in the cheek by a bullet as "just a scratch". He is currently incarcerated at Federal Correctional Institution, Mendota with a projected release date of 2032.

Position and indictments According to prosecutors, Gomez went from pumping gas in 1991 to declaring property worth more than half a million dollars a year later. According to U.S. federal prosecutors Gomez co-managed the Norte del Valle empire from 1990 to 2004.

On July 19, 2007 the extradition procedure began with Colombian police transporting Gomez from the Cómbita maximum security prison to be handed over to agents of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Gomez was outfitted with a bulletproof vest as he was transported to the airport for extradition. The cited fear was an attempt on his life by other drug traffickers or corrupt politicians fearing what testimony he may give.

Norte del Valle Cartel

The Norte del Valle Cartel is believed to have shipped 500 tons of cocaine since 1999 in relation to the 600 tons per year estimated to ship from all of Colombia, an estimated value of over 10 billion. Gomez and the cartel have paid right-wing paramilitary militias to protect smuggling routes. The cartel is believed to be the last in Colombia that managed the complete process from the cultivation of the coca to the production of cocaine and distribution. It is believed the cartel employs the use of aircraft, go-fast boats, and maritime cargo vessels to transport cocaine around the world. The cartel owns cocaine HCl conversion laboratories in the Valle del Cauca region of Colombia, and also has cocaine distribution cells in the New York / New Jersey area.

Popular culture 'Rasguño' is portrayed by the Colombian actor Juan Carlos Arango as the character of 'Oswaldo Tovar Buñuelo' in TV Series El Cartel. The character of Braulio Bermúdez (portrayed by the colombian actor Fernando Solórzano) in TV Series The Mafia Dolls is inspired in Gómez-Bustamante. In TV series Tres Caínes is portrayed by Mauricio Cujar as the character of 'Raspón'.