A social media photo taken with a Pablo Escobar-themed doll led Colombian authorities to the arrest of a Dutch national wanted for drug trafficking, officials confirmed this week.
The man, identified as Francis Michael de Haseth, was detained in an apartment in Cartagena during a joint operation carried out by Colombia’s criminal investigation unit (Dijín) and Interpol’s local office. De Haseth is the subject of an Interpol Red Notice issued by Dutch authorities.
According to General Carlos Fernando Triana, director of Colombia’s National Police, the suspect is wanted by a district court in The Hague for charges related to the cultivation, processing, transportation, and sale of illegal substances.
Police sources told El Colombiano newspaper that the investigation into De Haseth began after Dutch officials alerted Colombian authorities. The suspect had reportedly been attempting to legalize his immigration status through Colombia’s foreign ministry after entering the country as a tourist in 2018.
De Haseth traveled frequently between Colombia and the Netherlands, allegedly using two false fronts: one as a tattoo artist and another as a construction entrepreneur. Colombian investigators began tracking his movements and eventually discovered a photo of him posing with a Pablo Escobar doll in Doradal, Antioquia — a location near the infamous Hacienda Nápoles.
The photo placed him in Puerto Triunfo, Antioquia, and helped authorities trace his next stops — first to La Calera, Cundinamarca, and later to the coastal city of Cartagena, where he had been staying in short-term Airbnb rentals in the upscale Bocagrande neighborhood.
Investigators apprehended De Haseth in Cartagena and turned him over to Colombia’s Attorney General’s Office. He was reportedly in the country without valid immigration status, as his foreign residency card expired in 2022.
“He was in Colombia irregularly and had been working to formalize his stay in order to avoid deportation,” said one police official involved in the case.
Dutch prosecutors accuse De Haseth of coordinating the reception of 100 kilograms of cocaine smuggled from South America to Europe between May 27 and 28, 2022. The shipment was stored in the Dutch city of Zoetermeer and later distributed across several markets in Europe.
So far in 2025, Colombian authorities have carried out 111 extraditions, 50 of which were based on Interpol Red Notices. “These efforts contribute significantly to global security,” General Triana said.
