Pubdate: Wed, 27 Sep 2006
Source: Kansas City Star (MO)
Copyright: 2006 The Kansas City Star
Contact:  http://www.kcstar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/221

CALI CARTEL LEADERS GET 30 YEARS IN PRISON, FORFEIT BILLIONS IN ASSETS

Two Colombians who led the Cali cartel -- which once terrorized 
Colombia and dominated cocaine smuggling into the United States -- 
pleaded guilty Tuesday to drug trafficking and money laundering.

As part of their complex plea deal -- reached after months of 
negotiations with U.S. agencies -- Gilberto Orejuela, 67, and his 
brother Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela, 63, agreed to forfeit billions of 
dollars in assets linked to their drug trade.

Each was sentenced to 30 years in a U.S. prison at the pleading in a 
Miami courtroom.

"The brothers' guilty pleas effectively signal the final, fatal blow 
to the powerful Cali cartel," Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said 
at a Washington news conference. "This is a day of pride for the 
people of Colombia and for international law enforcement."

A separate deal described in court will protect six of the brothers' 
relatives in Colombia from prosecution on obstruction of justice and 
money laundering charges. That agreement also could permit 28 people 
with ties to the brothers to keep property and other assets not 
tainted by drug money.

As described by Gonzales and Adam J. Szubin, director of the Foreign 
Assets Control office at the Treasury Department, the 28 people will 
be required to turn over any assets -- such as houses, bank accounts, 
and businesses -- acquired with drug trafficking. Once those assets 
are surrendered, the Orejuela family members could eventually be 
removed from a U.S. list freezing their assets and blocking them from 
doing business with U.S. entities.

U.S. District Judge Federico Moreno accepted the guilty pleas and 
approved the sentencing agreement between prosecutors and defense lawyers.

The brothers agreed to forfeit to the United States $2.1 billion in 
assets linked to drug trafficking, but the two clearly made many 
times that amount during the cartel's heyday in the 1990s. Gonzales 
and the eight other U.S. and Colombian officials at the news 
conference were unable to estimate how many illegal billions of 
dollars the cartel made during the more than 20 years the two brothers ran it.

The forfeited assets were detailed in an 11-page list and included 
properties and businesses around the world. But neither brother is 
being required to cooperate in any ongoing or future criminal 
investigations, according to the plea agreement.

White House drug czar John Walters said at the news conference that 
the cartel had operated by terrorizing Colombian society and killing 
prosecutors, judges and political candidates and was responsible for 
"the torture and murder of more than 100 people" whose bodies were 
dumped in a Colombian river to keep others downstream in fear of the gang.

Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Julie Myers said the pair would 
be "the highest-level drug figures to ever occupy a U.S. jail cell." 
The only other contender for that honor might be Carlos Lehder, who 
helped found an earlier Colombian drug gang, the Medellin cartel. He 
was sentenced to 55 years in federal prison in a 1992 plea bargain.

"Are you sure?" Moreno asked Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela when he 
entered his plea.

"Very sure," he replied.

Miguel became known as "The Master" for his inventiveness in finding 
ways to hide drugs, while Gilberto's nickname was "The Chess Player" 
for his role as the cartel's strategic thinker. Their family invested 
in dozens of legitimate businesses around the world.

William Rodriguez Abadia, Miguel's son and Gilberto's nephew, agreed 
to forfeit about $300 million in worldwide assets after pleading 
guilty in March to U.S. charges and agreeing to testify against his 
father and uncle.

The History Of A Cartel

The Cali cartel of Colombia became the world's leading cocaine 
smuggling ring after eclipsing the rival Medellin cartel, which fell 
apart when several top members were arrested and kingpin Pablo 
Escobar was killed in a 1993 shootout with Colombian police.

The Cali cartel was once responsible for as much as 80 percent of the 
cocaine smuggled into the U.S. The cartel was known for its ingenious 
smuggling methods, hiding cocaine in such things as hollowed-out 
lumber and cylinders of chlorine.

The U.S. has investigated the cartel since 1991, resulting in more 
than 100 convictions, the seizure of more than 50 tons of cocaine and 
$15 million in cash.

The cartel is estimated to have smuggled more than 250 tons of 
cocaine into the United States since the 1970s. A recent Drug 
Enforcement Administration analysis said that several Colombian 
organizations now control that country's cocaine trade, increasingly 
in concert with Mexican organizations that distribute the drug in the 
United States.

Curt Anderson of The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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