Colombia extradites 2 neo-paramilitaries to US

Colombian authorities on Wednesday and Thursday extradited two former members of neo-paramilitary group, Los Urabeños, to the United States.

The extraditions on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively, of Andres Arroyabe, alias “La Maquina,” and Camilo Torres, alias “Fritanga,” were requested by the U.S. on charges of drug trafficking. Both men held high positions within the neo-paramilitary organization, Los Urabeños.

Fritanga’s defense lawyers had tried to block his extradition by citing a death certificate which declared the narco-trafficker legally dead. Fritanga had previously paid a doctor to falsify the certificate.

MORE: Colombia neo-paramilitary to be extradited to the US

Police captured Fritanga at his lavish wedding party on a Caribbean island in July of 2012. The party was estimated to cost $1.41M. For his part, La Maquina was captured in March of 2012, in Colombia’s central department of Cundinamarca.

MORE: Police arrest prominent narco in central Colombia

Sources

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