( CNN ) -- Colombian authorities have captured the leader of a criminal group that once worked for Pablo Escobar , a police spokesman said Wednesday . The arrest of John Ericson Vargas Cardona was announced by Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos , who called it a `` big blow against criminality . '' Vargas Cardona , alias `` Sebastian , '' is the leader of a group called the Oficina de Envigado , once affiliated with the kingpin Escobar and now a drug trafficking organization in its own right . He was captured Wednesday morning by an elite group of police in the department of Antioquia , in northwest Colombia , police said . Santos ' official Twitter account proclaimed it a `` triple jump against this criminal organization and gold medal for the police . '' According to InSight Crime , a Colombia- and U.S.-based research and investigation outfit that monitors criminal groups , the Oficina de Envigado , named after a small city in the Medellin metropolitan area , are the inheritors of Escobar 's drug trafficking empire . Today , the group is `` a hodgepodge of smaller organizations that seeks alliances with street gangs to keep control of their territory and businesses , '' according to an InSight Crime profile of the group . `` It is in near constant flux . '' It is one of two rival groups fighting a turf war in Medellin that has seen violence in the area rise . In 2011 , when a U.S. investigation led to charges against 20 people linked to the cartel , a U.S. attorney referred to the Oficina de Envigado as `` one of the largest and most dangerous drug cartels in Colombia . '' In July , a man who served as security chief for former President Alvaro Uribe turned himself in to U.S. agents in Colombia to face drug trafficking charges in the United States . Mauricio Santoyo Velascois accused of accepting bribes from a paramilitary group , as well as the Oficina de Envigado . Journalist Toby Muse contributed to this report .
Colombian police captured John Ericson Vargas Cardona , alias `` Sebastian '' He is the leader of the Oficina de Envigado . The arrest was made in a raid on his house by members of the National Police and the Federal Police.