LOL!! This is the funniest thing I've ever read off an AP wire, now watch him get 'lost' when he reaches Columbia.
[h1 style="font-weight: normal;" class="pinstripes"]Cuba Deports Top Colombian Drug Suspect[/h1]AP
Cuba will deport reputed drug kingpin Luis Hernando Gomez Bustamante to Colombia, which plans to extradite him to the United States, a government official told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
[div class="regular_paragraph"] The Colombian official said Gomez was expected to arrive in Bogota on Thursday and would be held at its heavily fortified chief prosecutor's office compound before being extradited to the United States. [/p] [/p][/div] [!-- the str_replaces are for WC3 validation --] [div class="third_paragraph"] An extradition order has been signed, the official said. He spoke on condition he not be further identified because he was not authorized to divulge the information. [/p] [/p][/div] [!-- the str_replaces are for WC3 validation --] [div class="third_paragraph"] Gomez, an alleged top boss of Colombia's Norte del Valle cartel known by his alias "Rasguno," is wanted on a U.S. indictment in New York on drug trafficking, racketeering and money-laundering charges. [/p] [/p][/div] [!-- the str_replaces are for WC3 validation --] [div class="third_paragraph"] He has been held in Cuba since his 2004 arrest at a Havana airport on charges of carrying a false passport. He had fled Colombia after Washington offered rewards of $5 million each for the South American country's top drug traffickers. [/p] [/p][/div] [!-- the str_replaces are for WC3 validation --] [div class="third_paragraph"] Gomez would be the most senior reputed drug boss extradited to the United States since Cali cartel chief Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela was extradited in March 2005. [/p] [/p][/div] [!-- the str_replaces are for WC3 validation --] [div class="third_paragraph"] Gomez's Miami-based attorney, Oscar Rodriguez, told the AP he had no information on the deportation and would not answer questions until he has had a chance to speak with his client. [/p] [/p][/div] [!-- the str_replaces are for WC3 validation --] [div class="third_paragraph"] The U.S. Embassy in Bogota had no immediate comment on the case. Cuban press officials and officials at the Colombian Embassy in Havana also did not immediately respond to requests for comment. [/p] [/p][/div] [!-- the str_replaces are for WC3 validation --] [div class="third_paragraph"] Cuba does not have diplomatic relations of any kind, including an extradition treaty, with the United States. [/p] [/p][/div] [!-- the str_replaces are for WC3 validation --] [div class="third_paragraph"] Shortly after Gomez's arrest, Cuban officials said he had been "in transit" and didn't intend to develop a local drug market in Cuba. [/p] [/p][/div] [!-- the str_replaces are for WC3 validation --] [div class="third_paragraph"] 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 United States, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. However, many of its top bosses have been captured in recent years and a campaign by the U.S. Treasury Department has frozen many of their assets, including front companies. [/p] [/p][/div] [!-- the str_replaces are for WC3 validation --] In 2004, Colombian authorities seized $100 million worth of Gomez's assets including 68 farms, 24 offices and 17 parking lots. According to prosecutors, he went from pumping gas in 1991 to declaring property worth more than $500,000 a year later.
