Waldemar_Franklin_Quintero
Waldemar Franklin Quintero
Colombian police officer
Colonel Valdemar Franklin Quintero (January 26, 1941 – August 18, 1989[1]) was the commander of the Colombian National Police in Antioquia Province.[2] Franklin had led several major raids which resulted in the seizure of multiple tons of cocaine. He was murdered by the Medellín cartel in Medellín because of these drug seizures[3] and his refusal to talk with the cartel.[1][4][5] He successfully thwarted an attempt to kill Luis Carlos Galán, a Colombian journalist and presidential candidate, when an RPG was launched at Galán.[6] The cartel formally took responsibility for the slaying of the police commander by calling a series of local radio stations. The caller, who identified himself as a person from "The Extraditables", said "We, the Extraditables, claim responsibility for the murder of Col. Valdemar Franklin in response to the repression committed and the government's refusal to have a dialogue with us".[4] Pablo Escobar, a major Colombian drug lord, had allegedly ordered the murder of Franklin on the day of the death of Luis Carlos Galán.[7]