Colombia’s Prosecutor General’s Office asked the Supreme Court Wednesday to order investigations against eight ranking public officials for suspected ties to an extradited drug trafficker.
Six Colombian police and army generals, an ex-congress member and an ex-prosecutor were mentioned as potential collaborators of Juan Carlos Ramirez, alias “Chupeta,” in documents belonging to him.
Ramirez, captured in Brazil in 2007 and extradited to the United States in 2008 on drug trafficking charges, kept a diary containing accounts of his financial relations with a number of members of the Colombian government. The diary mentions dozens of ranking officials by name, accompanied by a sum, indicating a monthly bribe. The document has been in the possession of Colombian authorities since 2006, and was not handed over to prosecutors until March of this year.
A source within the Prosecutor General’s Office said the Supreme Court would decide whether or not “there were merits to open an investigation” against the officials.
Jimenez was a prominent member of the Norte del Valle cartel, a Cali-based drug trafficking organization which fragmented in 2006 due to continued pressure from Colombian authorities.