|
BOGOTA, Colombia – An alleged major Colombian drug trafficker whose paramilitaryorganization controls coastal and border smuggling routessurrendered to U.S. drug agents in Aruba and was flown to New York,where he faces criminal charges, Colombian authorities said Monday. Jose Antonio Calle was indicted in New York's Eastern District lastyear for the alleged international distribution of 25 metric tonsof cocaine, money laundering, racketeering and murder, according toa news release the local U.S. attorney's office issued at the time. The U.S. government had a $5 million reward out for Calle, whodeputy Colombian police director Gen. Jose Roberto Leon said turnedhimself in U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents on Friday inAruba, off the Caribbean coast of Colombia and Venezuela. A spokesman for the U.S. attorney in New York's Eastern District,Robert Nardoza, said he could neither confirm nor deny Leon'sstatement that Calle was flown to New York. Nor would Nardozadiscuss why the indictment was not available in the U.S. federalcourt system's online electronic database. The DEA also declinedcomment. The 43-year-old Calle allegedly heads a violent cocaine-traffickingparamilitary force called "Los Rastrojos," or The Leftovers. His brother and alleged accomplice, Juan Carlos Calle, was capturedin Ecuador in March and sent to the United States. A $5 millionreward had also been offered for him by the U.S. State Department. The Rastrojos emerged roughly a decade ago from the dissolution ofColombia's Norte del Valle cartel, and allegedly shipped tons ofcocaine northward through Mexico. The brothers, originally hired guns for Norte del Valle bosses,gained the nickname the "Comba," short for combatants, as theircriminal gang expanded its influence over drug-trafficking routes,corrupting local officials and battling a rival offshoot of thecartel called the "Urabenos." The U.S. State Department said Javier Antonio Calle Serna has since2005 allegedly run "Los Rastrojos" and "been linked to kidnappings,tortures, and assassinations in Colombia, Venezuela, and Panama." A former guerrilla fighter, he is believed associated with theleftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, and itslate nemesis, the far-right United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia,both designated terrorist organizations by the U.S. government, theState Department says on its website. Colombian police officials say drug traffickers often createalliances of convenience with the countries' competing illegalarmed groups, placing business over ideology. The March 2011 U.S. press release announcing the indictment ofJavier Antonio Calle along with nine other alleged members of LosRastrojos said that in addition to partnering with Mexican drugcartels to ship cocaine from Colombia to the United States viaMexico, Venezuela and Central America, the organization levied a"tax" on other Colombia traffickers on drug shipments travelingthrough territory under its control. That territory includes parts of Colombia's Pacific coast and theborder with Venezuela, Colombian police say. A recent study by theNuevo Arco Iris think tank that Los Rastrojos coexist in theColombia-Venezuela border region with criminal organizationsincluding Mexico's Zetas. ___ Associated Press writer Frank Bajak contributed to this report fromLima, Peru. We are high quality suppliers, our products such as China Food Packaging Bags , Aluminum Foil Bags Manufacturer for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits Food Packaging Bags.
Related Articles -
China Food Packaging Bags, Aluminum Foil Bags Manufacturer,
|
