Cali drug cartel boss extradited to U.S.

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) - The co-founder of the Cali drug cartel, which at its peak ruled the world's cocaine industry, was sent in handcuffs on a plane Friday to the United States to face trial for drug trafficking and related charges.

Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela, known as "The Master" for his genius in concealing cocaine shipments, was indicted in Miami in 2003 along with his brother, Gilberto, on charges of drug smuggling, money laundering and obstruction of justice.

The brothers face maximum life sentences if convicted. Gilberto was extradited three months ago.

Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela, surrounded by armed guards, walked slowly across the tarmac of the Palanquero Air Base before boarding the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration plane to Florida. Wearing a bulletproof vest and with his hands cuffed behind his back, he earlier flew aboard a Black Hawk helicopter from the Palo Gordo prison in central Colombia to the base southwest of Bogota, the capital.

Interior Minister Sabas Pretelt said he hoped Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela's extradition would deter other Colombians from trafficking in drugs.

"Let this be a warning (for traffickers) not to continue in the business because they will pay for it in a U.S. prison," Pretelt told Caracol television.

At its height following the collapse of Pablo Escobar's rival Medellin cartel, the Cali cartel controlled 80 percent of the world's cocaine trade, exporting drugs hidden in everything from hollow lumber and concrete fence posts to chlorine cylinders, frozen broccoli and okra.

But with the brothers' arrest in 1995, the era in which a handful of kingpins dominated the drugs trade came to an end, and the business splintered among dozens of smaller rings. Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela became the last of the great cartel barons to be extradited to the United States. The others are dead or in U.S. jails.

Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela left Colombia hours after hardline President Alvaro Uribe signed a final extradition order. Uribe has approved the extradition of more than 200 Colombians, notably former Medellin cartel kingpin Fabio Ochoa and two senior Marxist guerrillas, in the past two years, and he is Washington's closest ally in Latin America.

U.S. prosecutors believe the Rodriguez Orejuela brothers continued to smuggle drugs from behind bars. Their sister, Aide Rodriguez, who visited Miguel on Friday, denied they plan to provide information to U.S. authorities in exchange for leniency and guarantees that other family members will be left alone.

Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela allegedly ran the cartel's day-to-day operations while Gilberto, nicknamed "The Chess Player," did the strategic planning, focusing on ways the cartel could stay ahead of rivals and outwit authorities.

Prosecutors have more wiretap evidence against Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela because of his penchant for hours-long telephone calls. The brothers allegedly maintained control of parts of their empire after their arrest by turning over operations to Miguel's eldest son, William Rodriguez Abadia, who remains on the run.

Back in December 2004...

Cali Cartel Boss Sent to U.S. on Drug Charges ^ (Gilberto)

Today... Miguel flew North.. Brothers ,together Again, sort of. ;-)

AP Photo

In this photo released by the Colombian National Police, confessed drug trafficker, Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela, center, is escorted by police officers to a U.S. government airplane at the Palanquero Air Base near Puerto Salgar in central Colombia, Friday, March 11, 2005. Rodriguez Orejuela who, along with his brother Gilberto helped found the Cali drug cartel, was extradited to the U.S. where he will face drug trafficking charges.

A. We have not invaded any countries merely because some Americans have drug habits.

B. Are there Americans in Columbia? Yes. Has Columbia been 'invaded?' No.

C. Drug producers & smugglers do not exclusively depend on American drug addicts.

D. Drug running and all its related activities would exist even if the US and all its addicts didn't.

E. Terrorists are funded by drug sales, among other things.

F. Drug smugglers and producers have other lucrative businesses called 'kidnapping.'

G. Drug kingpins & smugglers are not the kind of folks who limit themselves merely to smuggling illegal drugs- they'll deliver anything and everything- including human beings- without regard to consequences; they thrive on extortion, assassinations, etc- they are the mercs of the terrorist world. The idea that they will join a convent or something if we only leave them alone or legalize their more infamous business is naive in the extreme.

H. Arresting drug producers & smugglers plays an enormous role in defanging South American marxist and maoist terrorist groups as well as the Islamic and Pan-Arabic variety.

I. Defanging South American marxist and maoist terrorist groups as well as Islamic and Pan-Arabic terrorist groups saves lives in those countries, as well as ours. We can pretend it's only about petty crime and some inner city kid's crack habit but it's about terrorist networks of supply, illegal immigration, and national security. These are ideological problems that won't go away just because we legalize cocaine. We can't legalize everything these SOBs do to take the profit out of it- imagine legalizing kidnapping, white slavery or pedophilia because these SOBs traffic in people, too. think it'll end the problem?

J. The idea that everything would be peachy-keen and peaceful in Columbia- or anywhere else- if the US gave up the 'drug war' is utter nonsense.

K. That those who oppose the 'drug war' are opposed because they are concerned about Columbians getting killed is a crock. The implication that it's the US down there killing poor little innocent people and not the drug cartel and their ideologically motivated terrorist associates is also a pile of steaming BS.

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