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| Caribbean-Latin America |
| Colombia Will Extradite Drug Cartel Leader |
| 2005-03-02 |
| Colombian President Alvaro Uribe signed the final order Tuesday to extradite one of the Cali drug cartel's founders to the United States, the president's spokesman said. The extradition order for Rodriguez Orejuela came less than three months after his brother, Gilberto, was flown to Miami, becoming the most powerful Colombian trafficker ever sent to face U.S. justice. The two founded the Cali cartel, which officials say imported tons of cocaine into the United States — concealed in everything from hollow lumber and concrete fence posts to chlorine cylinders, frozen broccoli and okra. Uribe's spokesman Ricardo Galan told The Associated Press that Rodriguez Orejuela, credited with being a genius at concealing drug shipments, has five days to appeal the president's decision. The U.S. government indicted the brothers in 2003 on charges they continued to run the billion-dollar drug operation from behind bars even though they were imprisoned for nearly a decade. Colombia's extradition law with Washington does not allow for prosecution of crimes before the treaty was renewed in 1997, although the cartel was active beginning in 1990. |
| Posted by:Fred |