A republican congressman has announced his “outrage” at the Obama administration for apparently “passing up an initial extradition offer made by Colombia last fall” regarding alleged drug lord Walid Makled, the Venezuelan due to be extradited imminently to his home country.
Connie Mack, the Chairman of the U.S. House’s Western Hemisphere Subcommittee, stated in a press release Wednesday that the failure to take up the offer was a result of the U.S. Justice Department’s inability “to submit their paperwork in a timely fashion to the Colombian government.”
Although Mack claimed to have conveyed his “extreme disappointment” to Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos when the head of state called to notify him of the decision, this disappointment apparently “pales in comparison to the outrage” he now feels towards the U.S. government for their “dangerous cross between incompetence and ignorance.”
Makled is accused by the DEA of cooperating with the FARC to distribute cocaine to the United States, while the alleged drug lord has also admitted to having connections with Venezuela’s political and military elite.
“Makled has admitted his operations were done with the consent of Hugo Chavez and top officials in the Venezuelan government and having him in U.S. custody would have been a huge victory in our region’s drug war,” Mack concluded.
