Cuba has deported reputed drug kingpin Luis Hernando Gomez Bustamante to Colombia, which plans to extradite him to the US to face trafficking and money laundering charges, officials said.
Gomez, an alleged boss of the Norte del Valle cartel known by his alias "Rasguno," had been held in Cuba since his 2004 arrest at Havana's main airport.
REWARD
He fled Colombia after Washington offered a US$5 million reward for the capture of that country's top drug traffickers.
Cuba's government said Gomez was turned over to Colombian authorities on Thursday at Havana's international airport.
Oscar Galvis, a spokesman for Colombia's DAS intelligence agency, told reporters that Gomez arrived in Colombia on an air force flight from Cuba.
The Cuban statement did not mention Colombia's plans for Gomez. Cuba has no extradition treaty with the US and is home to some people wanted in the US but considered political refugees in Cuba.
But a Colombian official said on Wednesday that an order had already been signed to send Gomez to the US.
He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to divulge the information.
Gomez is wanted on a US indictment on drug trafficking, racketeering and money-laundering charges.
BAD PRISON CONDITIONS?
His extradition appears to be more a result of his desire to get out of Cuban jail than a desire by Havana to improve its relations with Washington. Last year, Gomez expressed to Colombian media his desire to leave the Cuban jail even if it meant extradition to the US.
He would be the most senior reputed drug boss extradited to the US since Cali cartel chief Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela was handed over in March 2005.
MOST POWERFUL CARTEL
The Norte del Valle cartel, the most powerful traditional drug organization in Colombia, is believed to account for as much as 60 percent of the cocaine consumed in the US, according to the US Drug Enforcement Administration.
However, many of its top bosses have been captured in recent years and a campaign by the US Treasury Department has succeeded in freezing many of of the cartel's assets, including front companies.
In March of 2004, Colombian authorities seized US$100 million worth of Gomez's assets, including 68 farms, 24 offices and 17 parking lots.
Prosecutors say that Rasguno went from pumping gas at a gas station in 1991 to declaring property worth more than US$500,000 a year later.
Gomez's Miami-based attorney, Oscar Rodriguez, told reporters on Wednesday he had no information on the deportation and would not answer questions about Gomez's intentions until he has had a chance to speak with his client.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese