Colombians say alleged N.S. killer was a drug cartel kingpin

A Halifax-area man accused of murder was allegedly one of the kingpins of a Colombian drug cartel before he was arrested on a Venezuelan beach and extradited back to Canada, officials in South America say.

The Office of the Attorney General of Colombia said in a press release Wednesday that Steven Douglas Skinner, a former MMA fighter awaiting trial on seconddegree murder, organized a drug trafficking network called Morfhox with Daniel “El Loco” Barrera.

The attorney general said along with his accomplice - who he allegedly later killed before fleeing to neighbouring Venezuela - Skinner recruited drug mules to smuggle cocaine to Canada, the United States and Europe

The alleged narcos targeted seniors, mothers and Venezuelans to illegally transport drugs by swallowing latex capsules filled with liquid cocaine.

They bought the drug mules passports, airline tickets and clothing as well as paid for expenses abroad, promising a bonus payment when they returned to Colombia, the attorney general said.

Skinner was arrested by Venezuelan law enforcement on Margarita Island in 2016, and was extradited to Canada the following year to face second-degree murder charges in the death of Stacey Adams in Nova Scotia.

A photo released by Venezuelan authorities after his arrest showed the one-time fugitive in colourful swim trunks, with tattoos on both arms and his bare chest covered in sand.

Skinner, who fought as a lightheavyweight at 205 pounds, had a 3-2 professional record, according to mixed martial arts website Sherdog.com.

Police had issued an international warrant for Skinner’s arrest shortly after Adams was found dead in Lake Echo in April 2011.

The RCMP worked with Venezuelan authorities for more than a year before Skinner was arrested.