Posts Tagged ‘FBI’
drug lord
Posted on: December 13, 2008
- In: World news
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Colombia has extradited Diego Montoya, alleged to be one of the country’s most powerful drug lords, to the US to face trial for murder and drug trafficking.
The charges relate to Mr Montoya’s time as leader of the Norte del Valle cartel which, at its peak, reportedly exported 70% of cocaine sold in the US and EU.
Known as Don Diego, he ran a private army accused of 1,500 murders.
At the time of his 2007 arrest by the Colombian military, he was on the FBI’s “10 Most Wanted” list.
Mr Montoya arrived aboard a US military plane in Miami, where he is scheduled to appear in court on Monday to face 12 charges including drug trafficking, obstruction of justice, money-laundering and murder.
He faces at least 20 years in jail if convicted.
Earlier, television footage showed the handcuffed 50-year-old in sunglasses and a jacket under a bulletproof vest, being escorted by heavily-armed Colombian police to a military airbase in Bogota.
There, he was handed over to agents of the US Drug Enforcement Administration, the DEA.
His extradition follows those of several other leading members of the cartel which Colombian authorities say has now been mostly dismantled.
Government coup
With a $5m (£3.4m) reward advertised for the capture of the billionaire known in Colombia’s underworld as the “boss of bosses”, Mr Montoya was arrested in his home province of Valle del Cauca.
His capture was seen as a huge coup for the government, ending the reign of one of the legends of the Colombian underworld.
“Colombia is closing a chapter in its fight against drug trafficking,” police chief General Oscar Naranjo told AFP news agency after the extradition.
“This extradition is perhaps the most important in years.”
Officials say Mr Montoya helped found the Norte del Valle cartel, based near the city of Cali.
The FBI said the cartel received help from left-wing guerrillas and right-wing paramilitary groups.
While his army, the Macho Men, has been largely dismantled, the Jeremy McDermott in Colombia says Mr Montoya’s place and the drug smuggling routes he ran have been taken over by a new boss known by the alias Combatant.
Colombia may be claiming another victory on the war on drugs, our correspondent adds, but the flow of illegal narcotics continues largely unchanged.
Obama calls
Posted on: December 11, 2008
“The president-elect agrees with [Illinois] Lt. Gov. [Pat] Quinn and many others that under the current circumstances it is difficult for the governor to effectively do his job and serve the people of Illinois,” Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said.
FBI agents on Tuesday arrested Blagojevich and his chief of staff, John Harris, on federal corruption charges related in part to the selection of Obama’s successor to the Senate.
Obama’s former partner in the Senate, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, has also called on Blagojevich to step down immediately.
“Beyond guilt or innocence, the charges against you raise serious questions about your ability to carry out your duties as chief executive of our state,” Durbin wrote in a letter sent to Blagojevich.
“Because of the nature of the charges against you, no matter whom you were to select, that individual would be under a cloud of suspicion. That would not serve our state, our nation, or the United States Senate,”
Even if Blagojevich named a replacement for Obama, it is unclear whether the Senate would seat the governor’s choice. The Constitution gives the Senate the sole authority to decide who is qualified to serve as a senator.
Gibbs said Obama also supported legislation that Illinois lawmakers will consider next week to authorize a special election to choose his successor.
Obama believes the lawmakers should “put in place a process to select a new senator that will have the trust and confidence of the people of Illinois,” Gibbs said.
The Illinois Legislature will begin a special session Monday to consider legislation that would authorize a special election to choose Obama’s successor.
Cindy Davidsmeyer, a spokeswoman for Illinois Senate President Emil Jones, said a House committee was scheduled to consider the bill Monday afternoon and then the full House would vote afterward.
The Senate could consider the legislation as soon as the next day, Davidsmeyer said.
Obama on Tuesday declined to comment on the arrest, saying, “Like the rest of the people of Illinois I am saddened and sobered by the news that came out of the U.S. attorney’s office.”
Obama also said he had not contacted Blagojevich about his possible successor, adding, “I was not aware of what was happening.”
But Obama adviser David Axelrod told a Chicago television station in November that Obama had spoken to the governor about his successor.
Axelrod corrected himself Tuesday, saying, that the president-elect and Blagojevich “did not then or at any time discuss the subject.”
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