Authorities occupied luxury ranches, farms and plots of land that Mancuso owned across much of northwest Colombia, police said in a statement. They did not say Wednesday if they planned additional property seizures.A report released Wednesday by the prosecutor’s office revealed that the warlords thus far had made only paltry offerings: One leading commander, Rodrigo Tovar Pupo, aka “Jorge 40,” whose bloc had 21,000 complaints filed against it, offered a car. Another, Diego Murillo, aka “Don Berna,” promised to hand over five properties. The bloc run by Mancuso had 7,000 complaints lodged against it. Complaints range from murder to forced disappearances to kidnapping.Eduardo Pizarro, who heads the reparation and reconciliation commission, said the warlords have handed over just US$4.6 million (euro3 million), while Chief Prosecutor Mario Iguaran estimates unforfeited assets to be worth more than US$200 million (euro129 million).U.S. officials have promised to cooperate with Colombian prosecutors, and Uribe said any assets seized from the warlords in U.S. court proceedings would go to compensate the victims.The Bush administration has said the extraditions should prompt U.S. congressional Democrats to reconsider their opposition to the Colombian trade deal, which has stalled over Democrats’ accusations that Uribe has failed to crack down on the militias for killing union organizers.The militias formed in the 1980s to defend wealthy ranchers and drug traffickers against extortion and kidnappings by leftist rebels, but eventually killed at least 10,000 people, including dozens of labor activists, Iguaran has said.
Colombia seizes US$25 million in properties from Mancuso
