The U.S. Justice Department on Thursday charged relatives of the Rodriguez Orejuela brothers who ran the Cali cartel with making false statements and impeding a criminal investigation.
Gilberto and Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela shipped hundreds of millions of dollars worth of cocaine from Cali to the United States until they were apprehended by authorities in 2002. They were sentenced in Miami in 2006 to 30 years in prison.
Now, the U.S. has indicted six of the druglords’ relatives: their sister, Amparo, her daughters Angela Maria and Ana Maria, Gilberto’s sons, Humberto and Jaime, and his daughter Maria Alexandra. They stand accused of concealing millions of dollars worth of assets from prosecutors, including banks accounts, businesses and luxury homes.
U.S. prosecutors had previously agreed not to charge Gilberto’s children with money laundering and obstructing justice, if they agreed to hand over lists of the druglods’ assets and give up $2.1 billion in drug profits.
But when the family members failed to disclose all their assets, U.S. federal prosecutors filed Thursday’s indictment against them.
“You cannot make an agreement, break it, and expect to walk away,” said U.S. Attorney Jeffrey H. Sloman,
If convicted, the accused family members would face up to five years in prison.