The United States will request the extradition
of four children and the sister of former Cali cartel boss Gilberto Rodríguez Orejuela and 33 others who were arrested on Wednesday, U.S. ambassador to
Colombia William Brownfield said on Thursday.
Miguel
Rodriguez and his brother Gilberto Rodriguez, heads of the huge Valle de Cauca
drug cartel, were extradited to the U.S. in 2005.
They agreed to declare all their properties and goods, worth about 2
billion U.S. dollars, in exchange for exemption from legal prosecution of their
relatives in Colombia.
However, the U.S. authorities claimed that the brothers had breached the
agreement.
“What I can say is that, part of the trail and sentence of the Rodriguez
brothers in the U.S. was the result of a compromise between the legal and
justice systems of both countries, yet they (the brothers) did not abide by the
agreements,” Brownfield said.
Among the 38 detainees were three sons and a sister of the Rodriguez
brothers, as well as lawyers, accountants and people accused of money
laundering. (Xinhua)