Colombia-Cartel Chief
8-5-1995
^By ANDREW SELSKY=
^Associated Press Writer=
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) _ The fugitive head of the Cali drug cartel fears he'll be shot dead by security forces because he provided evidence linking top government officials to traffickers, a cartel member said Saturday.
A squad of police and soldiers has been hunting for months for Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela, one of two drug kingpins on the police most-wanted list who have not been captured or given themselves up.
To get police to ease up on the hunt, Rodriguez left evidence for them to find that shows President Ernesto Samper's 1994 election campaign took Cali cartel money, said the source, interviewed on condition of anonymity. The implicit message was: Pull back your dragnet or I'll release more evidence.
The evidence _ found during a police raid last month on Rodriguez's apartment in Cali _ included a list of those who have received drug payoffs. It led to the resignation last week of Defense Minister Fernando Botero and the arrest of Samper's campaign treasurer, Santiago Medina.
Rodriguez now fears senior government officials will become desperate and will try to shut him up permanently by having security forces kill him without giving him a chance to surrender, said the source.
People in Rodriguez's inner circle "are very, very frightened. They don't trust anybody now," said the source.
In Colombia, drug kingpins have generally been captured and brought to justice rather than killed. In the past two months, five others on the most-wanted list have been put behind bars.
The source confirmed testimony by Medina that the cartel gave at least $6.1 million to Samper's election campaign.
In addition, it gave at least $10 million to candidates for Congress and Senate, with some of that money finding its way to Samper's campaign, the source said.
Samper and Botero, who was the campaign director, have repeatedly denied they knew of any Cali cartel contributions to the campaign.
Samper said Friday night that Medina was slandering him. "Criminals are accusing the innocent," Samper said in the northern city of Barranquilla.
He said he'd answer to the accusations before a congressional commission that is investigating him at his own request. Opposition politicians say they expect the commission's probe to be a whitewash.
Medina told prosecutors on July 28, two days after his arrest, that the Cali cartel gave the Samper campaign $1.2 million for the first round of elections, held in May 1994, and $4.9 million for the second round, in June 1994. Medina said Botero told him to solicit the funds.
The offensive against traffickers, assisted by U.S. drug and intelligence agents, "has not affected" the Cali cartel's flow of drugs overseas, the source said.
The Cali cartel controls the world's cocaine market and has a large share of heroin trafficking.
^By ANDREW SELSKY=
^Associated Press Writer=
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) _ The fugitive head of the Cali drug cartel fears he'll be shot dead by security forces because he provided evidence linking top government officials to traffickers, a cartel member said Saturday.
A squad of police and soldiers has been hunting for months for Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela, one of two drug kingpins on the police most-wanted list who have not been captured or given themselves up.
To get police to ease up on the hunt, Rodriguez left evidence for them to find that shows President Ernesto Samper's 1994 election campaign took Cali cartel money, said the source, interviewed on condition of anonymity. The implicit message was: Pull back your dragnet or I'll release more evidence.
The evidence _ found during a police raid last month on Rodriguez's apartment in Cali _ included a list of those who have received drug payoffs. It led to the resignation last week of Defense Minister Fernando Botero and the arrest of Samper's campaign treasurer, Santiago Medina.
Rodriguez now fears senior government officials will become desperate and will try to shut him up permanently by having security forces kill him without giving him a chance to surrender, said the source.
People in Rodriguez's inner circle "are very, very frightened. They don't trust anybody now," said the source.
In Colombia, drug kingpins have generally been captured and brought to justice rather than killed. In the past two months, five others on the most-wanted list have been put behind bars.
The source confirmed testimony by Medina that the cartel gave at least $6.1 million to Samper's election campaign.
In addition, it gave at least $10 million to candidates for Congress and Senate, with some of that money finding its way to Samper's campaign, the source said.
Samper and Botero, who was the campaign director, have repeatedly denied they knew of any Cali cartel contributions to the campaign.
Samper said Friday night that Medina was slandering him. "Criminals are accusing the innocent," Samper said in the northern city of Barranquilla.
He said he'd answer to the accusations before a congressional commission that is investigating him at his own request. Opposition politicians say they expect the commission's probe to be a whitewash.
Medina told prosecutors on July 28, two days after his arrest, that the Cali cartel gave the Samper campaign $1.2 million for the first round of elections, held in May 1994, and $4.9 million for the second round, in June 1994. Medina said Botero told him to solicit the funds.
The offensive against traffickers, assisted by U.S. drug and intelligence agents, "has not affected" the Cali cartel's flow of drugs overseas, the source said.
The Cali cartel controls the world's cocaine market and has a large share of heroin trafficking.
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