Newsgroups: talk.politics.drugs
From: [catalyst remailer] at [netcom.com]
Subject: Drug Lords Penetrate Government
Date: Fri, 18 Mar 1994 22:15:13 -0800

Forward:
clari.news.law.drugs (moderated) #3057 (0 + 3 more)                       [1]
From: [c--i--s] at [clarinet.com] (AP)
Newsgroups: clari.world.americas,clari.news.law.drugs
[1] Drug Lords Penetrate Government
Copyright: 1994 by The Associated Press, R
Date: Thu Mar 17 22:50:17 EST 1994

        BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) -- The Cali cocaine cartel has swallowed up
the rival Medellin drug organization and is penetrating all levels
of government in an attempt to conduct its trafficking operation
with impunity, senior officials say.
        Alleged Cali cartel leaders Gilberto Rodriguez and Miguel
Rodriguez, meanwhile, said in a letter published Thursday that
their constitutional rights were being violated by the press.
        In a letter to El Tiempo, Colombia's best-selling newspaper, the
Rodriguez brothers complained of ``intolerable'' sensationalist
reporting that constantly linked drug seizures with the Cali
cartel, ``no matter where in Colombia or in the world the seizures
occurred.''
        The brothers, who are fugitives and charged with drug
trafficking, said they were upset because the press constantly
names them as cartel leaders even though they have not been
convicted of a crime.
        A senior judicial official said that if the cartel leaders were
captured, the government would have a hard time convicting them.
        The United States has reportedly stopped sharing its evidence on
traffickers for use in Colombian trials out of fear the criminals
will get off scot-free or with a light sentence, and that
undercover sources will be compromised.
        But even if the United States did give evidence against the
Rodriguez brothers, it alone would probably not be enough to
convict them, and Colombia's evidence is sorely lacking, said the
official, a top member of President Cesar Gaviria's government. The
official spoke on condition of anonymity.
        Furthermore, several Colombian judges have been compromised by
bribes and threats and the nation's investigative services ``don't
know how to investigate,'' the official said.
        ``Most of the investigators' information is simply gossip,'' he
said.
        A senior law enforcement official, also speaking on condition of
anonymity, said the cartel controls a big part of the political
process of the country.
        Cartel lawyers lobbied the Congress, many of whose members are
widely believed to be paid off by the cartel, to pass a lenient
criminal code last year. Cartel lawyers are also negotiating
possible surrenders with the proscutor general's office, reportedly
in hopes they can wipe their slates clean and serve little or no
time.
        Last week, the leader of one of Cali's most brutal gangs
surrended following months of negotiations between lawyers and
authorities. Julio Fabio Urdinola, who was wanted for trafficking,
is likely to get five years or less under the new penal code.
        ``They are negotiating from a position of strength,'' the law
enforcement official said. ``Their corruptive powers give them a
huge edge over those few who are straight and try to do the right
thing.''
        He said some top government officials, whom he did not name,
compromised themselves by working with the Cali cartel in hunting
down members of the rival Medellin cartel. For instance, the Cali
cartel helped the government in its war against the Medellin gang
by pointing out targets to police, he said.
        The Cali cartel has now taken over control of the Medellin
cartel, led by Pablo Escobar until he was killed by security forces
Dec. 2, the law enforcement official said.
        The Cali cartel is believed to supply at least 80 percent of the
world's cocaine.