By FRANK BAJAK, Associated Press Writer Wed Feb 7, 9:32 PM ET
BOGOTA, Colombia - Cuba will deport reputed drug kingpin Luis Hernando
Gomez Bustamante to Colombia, which plans to extradite him to the United
States, a government official told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
The Colombian official said Gomez was expected to arrive in Bogota on
Thursday and would be held at its heavily fortified chief prosecutor's
office compound before being extradited to the United States.
An extradition order has been signed, the official said. He spoke on
condition he not be further identified because he was not authorized to
divulge the information.
Gomez, an alleged top boss of Colombia's Norte del Valle cartel known by
his alias "Rasguno," is wanted on a U.S. indictment in New York on drug
trafficking, racketeering and money-laundering charges.
He has been held in Cuba since his 2004 arrest at a Havana airport on
charges of carrying a false passport. He had fled Colombia after
Washington offered rewards of $5 million each for the South American
country's top drug traffickers.
Gomez would be the most senior reputed drug boss extradited to the
United States since Cali cartel chief Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela was
extradited in March 2005.
Gomez's Miami-based attorney, Oscar Rodriguez, told the AP he had no
information on the deportation and would not answer questions until he
has had a chance to speak with his client.
The U.S. Embassy in Bogota had no immediate comment on the case. Cuban
press officials and officials at the Colombian Embassy in Havana also
did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Cuba does not have diplomatic relations of any kind, including an
extradition treaty, with the United States.
Shortly after Gomez's arrest, Cuban officials said he had been "in
transit" and didn't intend to develop a local drug market in Cuba.
The Norte del Valle cartel, the most powerful traditional drug
organization in Colombia, is believed to account for as much as 60
percent of the cocaine consumed in the United States, according to the
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. However, many of its top bosses
have been captured in recent years and a campaign by the U.S.
Treasury Department has frozen many of their assets, including front
companies.
In 2004, Colombian authorities seized $100 million worth of Gomez's
assets including 68 farms, 24 offices and 17 parking lots. According to
prosecutors, he went from pumping gas in 1991 to declaring property
worth more than $500,000 a year later.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070208/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/colombia_cuba_drug_suspect_3
No comments:
Post a Comment