Colombia-Drug Arrests
3-3-1995
^By ANDREW SELSKY=
^Associated Press Writer=
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) _ Flanked by rifle-toting police, his head hung low, a handcuffed suspect was paraded before journalists Friday and declared a drug kingpin by triumphant authorities.
Jorge Rodriguez Orejuela, arrested as he visited his fortuneteller, was captured with 60 others Thursday when 3,000 police and soldiers swept through Cali, seizing drugs and weapons from members of the Cali drug cartel.
His arrest came one day after President Clinton criticized Colombia for failing to aggressively pursue kingpins who control 80 percent of the world's cocaine trade.
Defense Minister Fernando Botero hailed the capture as "an important advance for Colombia and the world in the fight against drug trafficking."
American officials had their doubts.
"While he's a drug trafficker, we don't consider him a major player in the Cali cartel," said James McGivney, spokesman for the Drug Enforcement Administration in Washington.
McGivney said Rodriguez Orejuela's brothers, Miguel and Gilberto, are the real cartel leaders. The U.S. Embassy described Jorge as a "mid-level lieutenant" but called the arrest "extremely positive."
Increasingly, President Ernesto Samper is walking a tightrope between trying to satisfy Washington's demands and avoiding another bloody war like the one against the Medellin cartel in the 1980s, which killed thousands.
The government, cooperating secretly with the Cali cartel, wiped out the rival Medellin cartel, killing its leader Pablo Escobar in December 1993.
Now, the Samper administration is trying to put a good face on its efforts against the Cali cartel ahead of a U.S. congressional vote on whether to cut aid to Colombia because of its laxness in imprisoning cartel leaders.
But the president's commitment has been questioned:
_Police announced on Feb. 13 they had seized a Boeing 727 jet that the Cali cartel used to fly tons of cocaine from Colombia. Diplomats and reporters later discovered the plane had actually been seized in November, and that its crew had been allowed to go free upon returning to Cali.
_The Dallas Morning News, reporting on a four-month investigation it conducted on cartel corruption in Colombia's government, quoted officials as saying Samper is in the drug lords' pocket.
_In 1993, Samper attended a birthday party for the daughter of Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela, founder of the Cali cartel, the Morning News reported, citing unidentified Colombian sources.
Samper has repeatedly denied the allegations and says he is committed to fighting drug activity.
In Thursday's sweep, telephone communications were severed during the nighttime operation, but authorities later said the outage was caused by construction work.
Rodriguez Orejuela, 48, was detained as he arrived at the home of Marlene Martinez, who reads tarot cards.
"I didn't have a chance to read his cards. If I had, I would have been able to warn him of the danger he was in," she told RCN radio.
Jorge Rodriguez Orejuela will be charged with drug trafficking, illegal weapons possession and carrying false documents, said Prosecutor General Alfonso Valdivieso.
He is also wanted in New York on drug trafficking charges, but Colombia law bars the extraditions of its citizens.
^By ANDREW SELSKY=
^Associated Press Writer=
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) _ Flanked by rifle-toting police, his head hung low, a handcuffed suspect was paraded before journalists Friday and declared a drug kingpin by triumphant authorities.
Jorge Rodriguez Orejuela, arrested as he visited his fortuneteller, was captured with 60 others Thursday when 3,000 police and soldiers swept through Cali, seizing drugs and weapons from members of the Cali drug cartel.
His arrest came one day after President Clinton criticized Colombia for failing to aggressively pursue kingpins who control 80 percent of the world's cocaine trade.
Defense Minister Fernando Botero hailed the capture as "an important advance for Colombia and the world in the fight against drug trafficking."
American officials had their doubts.
"While he's a drug trafficker, we don't consider him a major player in the Cali cartel," said James McGivney, spokesman for the Drug Enforcement Administration in Washington.
McGivney said Rodriguez Orejuela's brothers, Miguel and Gilberto, are the real cartel leaders. The U.S. Embassy described Jorge as a "mid-level lieutenant" but called the arrest "extremely positive."
Increasingly, President Ernesto Samper is walking a tightrope between trying to satisfy Washington's demands and avoiding another bloody war like the one against the Medellin cartel in the 1980s, which killed thousands.
The government, cooperating secretly with the Cali cartel, wiped out the rival Medellin cartel, killing its leader Pablo Escobar in December 1993.
Now, the Samper administration is trying to put a good face on its efforts against the Cali cartel ahead of a U.S. congressional vote on whether to cut aid to Colombia because of its laxness in imprisoning cartel leaders.
But the president's commitment has been questioned:
_Police announced on Feb. 13 they had seized a Boeing 727 jet that the Cali cartel used to fly tons of cocaine from Colombia. Diplomats and reporters later discovered the plane had actually been seized in November, and that its crew had been allowed to go free upon returning to Cali.
_The Dallas Morning News, reporting on a four-month investigation it conducted on cartel corruption in Colombia's government, quoted officials as saying Samper is in the drug lords' pocket.
_In 1993, Samper attended a birthday party for the daughter of Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela, founder of the Cali cartel, the Morning News reported, citing unidentified Colombian sources.
Samper has repeatedly denied the allegations and says he is committed to fighting drug activity.
In Thursday's sweep, telephone communications were severed during the nighttime operation, but authorities later said the outage was caused by construction work.
Rodriguez Orejuela, 48, was detained as he arrived at the home of Marlene Martinez, who reads tarot cards.
"I didn't have a chance to read his cards. If I had, I would have been able to warn him of the danger he was in," she told RCN radio.
Jorge Rodriguez Orejuela will be charged with drug trafficking, illegal weapons possession and carrying false documents, said Prosecutor General Alfonso Valdivieso.
He is also wanted in New York on drug trafficking charges, but Colombia law bars the extraditions of its citizens.
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