Pubdate: Sun, 03 Nov 2002
Source: Observer, The (UK)
Copyright: 2002 The Observer
Contact:  http://www.observer.co.uk/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/315
Author: Sibylla Brodzinsky in Bogota

COLOMBIAN DRUG LORDS TO GO FREE

Government Fury As Judge Grants Cali Cartel Leaders Release from Jail for 
Good Behaviour

Two of the world's most notorious drug lords could be free in Colombia 
within days after a judge granted them parole for good behaviour, a 
decision that has surprised and infuriated the government.

A parole judge on Friday ordered the release of brothers Miguel and 
Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela - once the leaders of the powerful Cali drug 
cartel - from a maximum-security prison after they had served just over 
half of their terms.

The decision took the government of President Alvaro Uribe by surprise and 
officials immediately said they would seek to have the ruling overturned 
before the brothers were allowed back on the streets.

Justice Minister Fernando Londono questioned the legitimacy of the judge's 
decision towards the multimillionaires.

'These men, with their gigantic economic power, are generating a result 
that doesn't correspond with the evidence,' said Fernando Londono, who is 
also Colombia's Interior Minister.

'This shows us once again that judicial power in Colombia is incapable of 
dealing with the issue of drug trafficking.'

Legal experts say the one way to prevent their release is to present new 
charges against them or if the United States asks for the brothers' 
extradition.

The Rodriguez Orejuela brothers were captured in 1995 and convicted of 
shipping tons of cocaine to the US. They were sentenced to 14 and 15 years.

The US repeatedly requested the extradition of the brothers after their 
arrest, but Colombian authorities denied the requests, which would have 
violated the constitution at the time.

A constitutional amendment in 1997 reinstated the possibility of 
extradition for drug trafficking charges but it did not apply retroactively.

The judge ordered the release of the men after they had participated in a 
work-study programme to reduce their sentences. He also ordered each of the 
men to pay a $5,400 bond, and barred them from leaving the country.

The Cali cartel run by the brothers competed in the Nineties with the 
powerful Medellin cartel, run by Pablo Escobar, who was shot dead while 
fleeing police in 1993.

After the demise of the Medellin cartel, the Rodriguez Orejuela brothers 
were believed to have shipped 80 per cent of the cocaine consumed in the 
US. They also allegedly helped finance the political campaign of former 
President Ernesto Samper, who was cleared of the charges by Congress.

After the men were captured other drug lords turned themselves in, in 
exchange for reduced sentences, and the Cali syndicate broke up into 
smaller, more agile drug-trafficking organisations.

Colombia remains the world's largest producer of cocaine and a major 
supplier of heroin to the US.

Washington, which provides the Colombian government with millions of 
dollars in aid to fight drug production and trafficking in Colombia, often 
expressed concern that the Rodriguez Orejuela brothers did not receive a 
strong enough sentence and could be freed after only a few years.

It was unclear exactly when the men would be freed. Monday is a holiday in 
Colombia, so the earliest day they could go through the necessary steps to 
leave prison would be Tuesday.
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