Colombia has asked the United States to send back a famous drug lord recently released from US prison, according to a statement released by the Ministry of Justice.
Earlier this year, El Tuso was released from US prison, after a reduced five-year sentence he received in exchange for cooperation with authorities. Last week it was announced that he and his family would be receiving US work residency permits, against the protests of various current and ex-officials in the Colombian government calling for his return to Colombia.
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MORE: Ex-drug lord El Tuso released from prison
Justice and peace?
El Tuso’s case
El Tuso’s extradition was more controversial than most, as it was authorized by the Uribe government without the necessary consent of the Supreme Court.
In a tweet last week, Miguel Samper commented on El Tuso’s release from prison: “With this worrisome case, impunity is settled and the extradition of the bosses of the AUC was feigned.”
FACT SHEET: Parapolitics
In testimony given to US authorities, El Tuso implicated over 60 Colombian government officials, including former President Uribe himself, in so-called “parapolitics” — criminal collusion with paramilitary groups. But El Tuso has never testified in Colombian court nor collaborated with Colombian investigators, and officials now believe the former drug lord has been concealing information regarding corruption within the Colombian government and connections between politicians, businessmen, the armed forces, and the AUC.
MORE: ‘El Tuso’ incriminates 60 officials in ‘parapolitics’ scandal
Critics say extradition, ostensibly intended to circumvent corruption in the Colombian justice system, has actually crippled the legitimacy of Colombian law and law enforcement and provided the equivalent of impunity to many of Colombia’s worst criminal offenders.
There is no word yet as to whether the United States will honor Colombia’s extradition request in El Tuso’s case. But Samper has been quoted as saying, “The government has the ability to condition extradition to comply and satisfy requirements; one of those should be reciprocity, and the United States has to accept.”