According to Colombian authorities, Barrera was a key associate of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in drug retail and distribution.

Barrera was an associate of alias "Negro Acacio" a renowned guerrilla commander involved in the illegal drug trade business for the FARC.

Part of the drug produced by the FARC in western Colombia was bought by Barrera and sold to cartels or paramilitary groups.

On December 15, 2007 the Colombian newspaper El Tiempo reported that Barrera was the link between the FARC and a new cartel called Los Nevados formed by former paramilitary group and led by alias the "Mellizos" (the twin [brothers]) Víctor Manuel and Miguel Ángel Mejía Múnera.

[7] The drug lord allegedly was also one of the main allies of the neo-paramilitary groups ERPAC, commanded by Pedro Oliveiro Guerrero, aka 'Cuchillo', as well as Los Rastrojos, a group formed by former commanders of one of the military wings of the Norte del Valle cartel On September 18, 2012, Barrera was arrested by Venezuelan security forces in San Cristobal, a town ten miles from the Colombian border.

In the Southern District of New York, one count of conspiring to distribute and manufacture cocaine knowing it would be unlawfully imported into the United States.

[10] On November 20, 2014, Barrera pleaded guilty in the Southern District of New York to conspiring to distribute and manufacture over 400 tons of cocaine per year knowing that it would be imported into the United States.