Police arrested in Colombia cocaine smuggling ring
BOGOTA, Colombia
A cocaine-smuggling ring run by active and retired police and army officers shipped the drug abroad from Bogota's international airport on cargo planes run by Avianca, the national carrier, authorities said Tuesday.
Among the seven suspects arrested were a retired police major and captain, a former army lieutenant, two police officers and an Avianca employee. Authorities said the seven would be extradited to New York to stand trial.
In addition to the arrests, police said they seized 1,200 pounds (552 kilograms) of cocaine on Monday in a warehouse.
The arrests, beginning Monday night, were based on a U.S. indictment in New York that alleges the Norte del Valle cartel, one of Colombia's most violent drug mafias, recruited the airline worker and police involved with security at El Dorado Airport.
It alleges the ring shipped 900 pounds (409 kilograms) of cocaine in October through Avianca's cargo facility at the airport after an airline employee approved false paperwork. The drugs were allegedly destined for the United States via Mexico.
Two patrolmen let the shipment go through security and guarded it for three days at the airline cargo area, the indictment alleges, adding that the cocaine, worth more than $10 million in New York City, was seized in Mexico City by Mexican law enforcement agencies on October 17.
If convicted, the defendants could face anywhere from 10 years to life in prison, though the United States has assured Colombia that it will not seek life sentences for defendants extradited from there.
The arrests resulted from of a joint probe by U.S. prosecutors in Manhattan, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents in Colombia and New York and other agencies in Colombia, the United States and Mexico.
Colombia is the world's largest producer of cocaine. In the last four years, nearly 350 Colombians have been extradited to the United States to stand trial on drug trafficking charges.
A cocaine-smuggling ring run by active and retired police and army officers shipped the drug abroad from Bogota's international airport on cargo planes run by Avianca, the national carrier, authorities said Tuesday.
Among the seven suspects arrested were a retired police major and captain, a former army lieutenant, two police officers and an Avianca employee. Authorities said the seven would be extradited to New York to stand trial.
In addition to the arrests, police said they seized 1,200 pounds (552 kilograms) of cocaine on Monday in a warehouse.
The arrests, beginning Monday night, were based on a U.S. indictment in New York that alleges the Norte del Valle cartel, one of Colombia's most violent drug mafias, recruited the airline worker and police involved with security at El Dorado Airport.
It alleges the ring shipped 900 pounds (409 kilograms) of cocaine in October through Avianca's cargo facility at the airport after an airline employee approved false paperwork. The drugs were allegedly destined for the United States via Mexico.
Two patrolmen let the shipment go through security and guarded it for three days at the airline cargo area, the indictment alleges, adding that the cocaine, worth more than $10 million in New York City, was seized in Mexico City by Mexican law enforcement agencies on October 17.
If convicted, the defendants could face anywhere from 10 years to life in prison, though the United States has assured Colombia that it will not seek life sentences for defendants extradited from there.
The arrests resulted from of a joint probe by U.S. prosecutors in Manhattan, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents in Colombia and New York and other agencies in Colombia, the United States and Mexico.
Colombia is the world's largest producer of cocaine. In the last four years, nearly 350 Colombians have been extradited to the United States to stand trial on drug trafficking charges.
posted by Alice at
Thursday, April 06, 2006
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