BOGOTA, Colombia (CNN) -- The Colombian government sent 14 suspected
paramilitary leaders to the United States on drug charges Tuesday after
authorities said they violated a 2003 deal with the government.
Rodrigo Tovar was one of 14 accused drug traffickers to be extradited
Tuesday
morning.
"This morning, a group of citizens were extradited," President Alvaro
Uribe said
in a nationally televised address Tuesday. "Some of them had relapsed into
their
crimes ... others weren't cooperating with justice, and all had failed to
compensate their victims."
Authorities say the men were members of the outlawed United Self-Defense
Forces
of Colombia, or AUC, an organization that the United States regards as one
of
the most powerful drug trafficking rings in the world and has labeled a
terrorist organization.
The men boarded a plane around 6:45 a.m. to face charges in Wa****ngton,
Florida,
New York and Texas.
The defendants, who authorities say held various positions of power in the
drug
ring, will face charges including conspiracy to im****t and manufacture
cocaine,
providing sup****t to a terrorist organization and money laundering.
Under the terms of the original deal, Uribe said the Colombian government
agreed
to freeze extradition to the United States and grant the defendants light
sentences if they confessed to their crimes and compensated their victims.
Uribe said he agreed to extradition because authorities believed the men
were
dealing drugs from inside prison.
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In exchange for their extradition to the United States, the Department of
Justice agreed not to seek life sentences.
"These extraditions are yet another substantial step by the government of
Colombia, in partner****p with the United States, to hold accountable those
who
sup****t terrorist organizations and send illegal drugs into this country,"
said
U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey in a statement from the Drug
Enforcement
Administration.
The 14 men, taken from three Colombian prisons, left for the United States
about
6:45 a.m., the Colombian government said. A plane carrying 11 of them
landed
late Tuesday afternoon in Miami, Florida. Another was flown directly to
New
York, while the two others were flown to Tampa, Florida.
The DEA said they would make initial court appearances in the districts
where
they arrived in the United States.
The defendants include Salvatore Mancuso Gomez, called "El Mono," once
allegedly
among the group's most senior leader****p. Some of the defendants have
already
been indicted in the United States, including Diego Fernando Murillo
Bejarano,
for allegedly conspiring to smuggle thousands of kilograms of cocaine into
the
U.S.
Last week, Colombia extradited paramilitary boss Carlos Mario Jimenez
Naranjo,
also believed to be a former AUC leader, on drug-trafficking charges in
the
United States. Colombia claimed Jimenez had continued to traffic in drugs
while
in prison. His lawyer entered a not guilty plea on his behalf.
The AUC was formed as an umbrella organization for militias battling
left-wing
guerilla groups Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the
National
Liberation Army (ELN). Both FARC and ELN are at war with the Colombian
government.
Under the guise of protecting the Colombian public from these leftist
rebel
groups, the AUC committed numerous human rights abuses, according to the
U.S.
State Department and Human Rights Watch.
The abuses include "the massacre of hundreds of civilians, the forced
displacement of entire villages and the kidnapping of political figures to
force
recognition of AUC demands," then-U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell
said in
2001, when he designated the group a terrorist organization. The U.S. also
considers FARC and ELN terrorist organizations.
Dozens of current and former Colombian lawmakers have been linked to the
AUC.
Many others, including Uribe's second cousin, ex-Sen. Mario Uribe Escobar,
are
under investigation for alleged ties.
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