Colombia to request re-extradition of former drug lord granted US green card
Colombia to request re-extradition of former drug lord granted US green card
May 21, 2014 posted by Daniel Medendorp
Colombia has asked the United States to send back a famous drug lord recently released from US prison, according to a statement released by the Ministry of Justice.
Juan Carlos Sierra, alias “El Tuso,” bribed his way into the demobilization process extended to Colombia’s largest paramilitary group at the time, the AUC, and was extradited to the United States in 2008 under false pretenses.
Earlier this year, El Tuso was released from US prison, after a reduced five-year sentence he received in exchange for cooperation with authorities. Last week it was announced that he and his family would be receiving US work residency permits, against the protests of various current and ex-officials in the Colombian government calling for his return to Colombia.
MORE: Former drug lord avoids deportation back to Colombia
Semana magazine reports that El Tuso would face 12 different charges if he were to be deported back to Colombia.
MORE: Ex-drug lord El Tuso released from prison
Vice-Minister of Justice Miguel Samper was quoted as saying, “It is unexplainable that ‘pureblood’ drug traffickers like ‘El Tuso’ Sierra could leave the Ralito negotiations in 2004 only to enter the 2006 paramilitary negotiations through the back door. Even more unexplainable is the fact that [the Colombian government] extradited paramilitary chiefs, with them, truth and justice.”
More:
http://colombiareports.co/colombia-begins-formal-process-extradite-former-drug-lord/
