Pubdate: Wed, 29 Dec 2004
Source: Miami Herald (FL)
Copyright: 2004 The Miami Herald
Contact:  http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/262
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)
Note: from the  Associated Press

POLICE NAB REPUTED DRUG CARTEL LEADER WANTED IN THE U.S.

BOGOTA - (AP) -- Colombian police on Tuesday captured a leader of a reputed 
cocaine cartel wanted by the United States on drug-related charges, 
officials said.

Dagoberto Florez, a capo of the Norte del Valle cartel, was arrested early 
Tuesday in a rural area outside of Medellin, 250 miles northwest of the 
capital, National Police chief Gen. Jorge Daniel Castro told reporters. He 
declined to provide details on the capture.

Florez is among nine Norte del Valle cartel leaders being sought for 
extradition under an order issued by a U.S. federal court in New York in 
May. The U.S. government offered a reward of up to $5 million for each one 
earlier this year.

Florez is the second one on the U.S. list to be captured, following the 
arrest in October of Gabriel Puerta-Parra.

Castro said it hasn't been decided who, if anyone, would be in line to 
receive the reward money for Florez's capture.

A U.S. official in Bogota described Florez's capture as "important," and 
said he hoped the offer of reward money would lead to more arrests.

In its heyday in the late 1990s, the Norte del Valle cartel was responsible 
for about half of all the cocaine sold in the United States. The U.S. 
government says the cartel exported about $10 billion worth of cocaine 
during the past 15 years.

Under President Alvaro Uribe, a strong Washington ally, Colombia has 
extradited more than 100 alleged drug traffickers to the United States in 
the past two years. Earlier this month, he extradited Gilberto Rodriguez 
Orejuela, a co-leader of the dismantled Cali cartel, who is considered the 
most powerful drug trafficker to ever see the inside of a U.S. prison.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jo-D