Cocaine Traffickers Extradited

Top Colombian paramilitary warlords have been extradited to the U.S. to face drug-trafficking charges. The Colombia-U.S. cocaine drug trade is estimated at $12 billion a year and will likely not be impacted by the mass extradiction but may advance the Free-Trade Deal in Congress. According to the Wall Street Journal May 14, 2008 article,("Colombia Extradites 14 Warlords to U.S.") 'Colombian President Alvaro Uribe said the 14 bosses of the paramilitary, a group believed responsible for shipping tons of cocaine to the U.S. as well as having participated in or ordered thousands of murders during Colombia's long-running civil war, violated the terms of their 2005 peace deal by continuing to run criminal groups and traffic drugs from prison. As part of the deal, paramilitary leaders got reduced prison sentences and an assurance not to be extradited in exchange for promises to tell the truth about their crimes, compensate victims and stop any illegal activity."

The article states, "The mass extradition, unprecedented in the war on drugs, should cement Colombia's position as the Bush administration's top ally in Latin America. The extradition comes at a time when Colombia is trying to persuade the U.S. Congress to pass a bilateral free-trade deal. Democrats have put the deal on ice amid concerns about job losses in the U.S. as well as accusations that Colombia hasn't done enough to halt right-wing paramilitary violence against labor unions. The extraditions will bolster Colombia's argument that it is becoming a more tolerant, law-abiding society."

The article adds, "Scores of lawmakers, including many of Mr. Uribe's supporters, have been jailed over ties to the illegal militias. An estimated one-fifth of Colombia's congress is either in jail or has resigned in the 'para-politics' scandal. Analysts said that Mr. Uribe's move to extradite the very people that he supposedly was close to would send a strong signal that he was no longer -- if ever -- in the paramilitaries' corner. During the past decade, Colombia has sent more than 600 people involved in the drug trade to the U.S. for trial. But most of those sent were seen as low-level drug dealers and those linked with the leftist FARC guerrillas. That began to change last week, when Colombia extradited its first paramilitary leader, Carlos Jimenez, a 42-year-old popularly known in Colombia as 'El Macaco,' a type of monkey. That move set the stage for Tuesday's mass extradition."