Pubdate: Wed, 13 Nov 2002
Source: Houston Chronicle (TX)
Copyright: 2002 Houston Chronicle Publishing Company Division, Hearst Newspaper
Contact:  http://www.chron.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/198
Author: Rosanna Ruiz

DRUGS-FOR-WEAPONS SUSPECT CLAIMS CIA TIES

A Danish-born Houston-area resident accused in a drugs-for-weapons deal 
involving Colombian terrorists is a former informant who believed the U.S. 
government backed the operation, his attorney said Tuesday.

The attorney, Erik Sunde, insists that client Uwe Jensen had limited 
participation with his boss, Carlos Ali Romero Varela, to broker a deal 
last year between an FBI informant and Colombian terrorists. The deal 
involved trading cocaine for $25 million worth of anti-aircraft missiles 
and other weapons.

Jensen, 66, a naturalized American, insists that the FBI informant told him 
the U.S. government had given the deal its tacit approval, Sunde said. The 
claim, he added, indicates Jensen had no criminal intent.

Sunde said his client found the informant to be credible based upon 
Jensen's work as a paid informant for the CIA and the Drug Enforcement 
Administration while he lived in Colombia in the early 1990s.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Stuart Burns said he has no evidence that Jensen 
was ever an informant but is looking into the claim. He also said the 
conversation Sunde describes between the informant and Jensen never took place.

Last week, Jensen, Romero and two alleged Colombian terrorists were charged 
in a criminal complaint with conspiracy to distribute cocaine and to 
provide material support and resources to a foreign terrorist organization. 
They could get life in prison if convicted.

Jensen, arrested at his Mission Bend-area home in Fort Bend County on Nov. 
5, will remain in custody after he waived his rights to probable cause and 
detention hearings Tuesday.

The U.S. government is seeking the extradition of Romero, a Woodlands 
resident, as well as Cesar Lopez and Commandant Emilio, said to be 
high-ranking members of the paramilitary group United Self-Defense Forces 
of Colombia. All three were arrested in Costa Rica last week.

If a grand jury indicts Jensen, he will appear before a federal magistrate 
judge for arraignment. Sunde has said his client intends to plead not guilty.

Prior to Tuesday morning's hearing, Burns provided Sunde with evidence he 
planned to present to a magistrate in seeking Jensen's detention.

After glancing over the documents, Sunde requested that U.S. Magistrate 
Judge Marcia Crone give him more time. Crone begrudgingly granted the request.

When Sunde returned to court Tuesday afternoon, he surprisingly announced 
that his client would forgo the hearings.

Afterward, Sunde said Jensen's decision should not be interpreted as an 
admission of guilt.

"At this point, it is in his and his family's best interests to waive" the 
hearings, Sunde said.

He also said Jensen's work as an informant offered him insight into U.S. 
policy toward Colombia and bolsters his defense.

As an informant, Sunde said, his client saw "firsthand" the U.S. 
government's support of Colombia despite its knowledge of the Colombian 
army's collaboration with paramilitary groups.

Amnesty International and other human rights groups have complained for 
years about paramilitary groups doing the Colombian army's "dirty work," 
said Wende Gozan, a spokeswoman for Amnesty International.
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