Colombia drug lord extradited to US

 

Brazil has extradited one of the most powerful leaders of Colombia's cocaine cartels to the United States, where he is wanted on racketeering and drug charges.

Juan Carlos Ramirez Abadia was flown before dawn on Friday from a prison in Mato Grosso do Sul state and left Brazil from the Amazon region city of Manaus accompanied by US federal agents, Brazilian federal police said.

Romeu Tuma, the National Secretary of Justice, said on Thursday that Ramirez Abadia's pending extradition showed that "Brazil was doing its part in combating international organized crime".

A federal grand jury in Washington indicted Ramirez Abadia in 2004 on drug trafficking and racketeering charges stemming from his leadership of the still-powerful Norte del Valle cartel based near Cali.

According to the indictment, the cartel exported more than $10bn worth of cocaine from Colombia to the US between 1990 and 2004.

Sao Paulo arrest

Ramirez Abadia, 45, was arrested a year ago in Sao Paulo, where Brazilian authorities found him living in luxury with his family and running a drug ring reaching across continents.

The Colombian, nicknamed "Lollipop," had sought extradition to the US, saying he feared for his life if he was returned to his home country. He underwent plastic surgery to alter his appearance and avoid being identified.

Colombia last year seized $400 million in property, including a Caribbean island, from the drug lord.

Confiscated goods that had belonged to Ramirez Abadia and his wife, including vintage port and a vast shoe collection, were sold at a Sao Paulo auction in April.

Investigations in the US may reveal new drug trafficking routes as well as funds belonging to the cartel that could be confiscated by the US and Brazilian governments, Tuma said.