Pubdate: Sun, 05 Dec 2004 Source: Sarasota Herald-Tribune (FL) Copyright: 2004 Sarasota Herald-Tribune Contact: http://www.heraldtribune.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/398 Author: Dan Molinski, Associated Press Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/colombia.htm (Colombia) EXTRADITED COLOMBIAN DRUG KINGPIN SAYS HE'S INNOCENT OF CHARGES BOGOTA, Colombia -- Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela, the most powerful Colombian drug trafficker ever extradited to the United States, said he was innocent in an interview shortly before he was flown to Miami. "I feel innocent of the charges they are making against me and I will respond to them," he told the radio station W. Excerpts were published Sunday by the Colombian newspaper El Tiempo. Rodriguez Orejuela, 65, is charged along with his brother Miguel with running a drug network that produced 80 percent of the U.S. cocaine supply in the 1990s. Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela faces his first court appearance Monday after he was flown to Miami on Saturday. The drug cartel leader said he has confidence in the U.S. justice system. "I think I will be listened to and that if my life is going to be in a prison it will be in a prison where at least I'll have minimal rights," he said. The date of the interview was not given. An extended version of the interview will be aired Monday on the W radio station, which is part of the Caracol Radio chain. Charges against Rodriguez Orejuela carry a possible life sentence, but restrictions in Colombian law may limit any prison term. While Rodriguez Orejuela has admitted past drug trafficking, his extradition was based on U.S. allegations of crimes committed from his Colombian prison from 1999 to 2002. According to Colombian law, people cannot be extradited for crimes committed before December 1997. Rodriguez Orejuela has maintained in previous interviews that he never trafficked drugs from jail. The drug cartel leader said he has confidence in the American justice system. "I think I will be listened to and that if my life is going to be in a prison, it will be in a prison where at least I'll have minimal rights," he said. The date of the interview was not given. Charges against Rodriguez Orejuela carry a possible life sentence, but restrictions in Colombian law may limit any prison term. When asked about the Cali cartel's donation of million of dollars to former President Ernesto Samper's victorious 1994 campaign, Rodriguez Orejuela said, "Look, I'm going to take everything I can recall to the United States." Samper claims not to have been aware of the campaign donations. Rodriguez Orejuela also said he tried several times to negotiate a surrender with Colombian authorities after the godfather of Colombian traffickers, Pablo Escobar, was killed by counternarcotics agents in December 1993. "I sent three letters to (then-President Cesar) Gaviria starting on the day Pablo Escobar was killed with the intent to turn myself in," Rodriguez Orejuela said. Gaviria never responded, said Rodriguez Orejuela, who was captured in June 1995. Gaviria was not immediately available for comment. Rodriguez Orejuela and brother Miguel have been jailed since 1995. Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela remains there, where U.S. authorities say he might stay because of health problems requiring dialysis. Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela was handed over to U.S. authorities by Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, who has approved the extradition of more than 200 Colombians in the last two years and is considered Washington's strongest ally in Latin America. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin