Ex-paramilitary leader Miguel Angel Mejia Munera was handcuffed and wearing a bullet-proof before he boarded a plane for the United States

Ex-paramilitary leader Miguel Angel Mejia Munera was handcuffed and wearing a bullet-proof before he boarded a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) plane in Bogota bound for the United States, which had offered a $5 million reward for information leading to his capture.Colombia extradited one of its most-wanted drug lords to the United States on Wednesday to face charges of running an armed cocaine-smuggling gang with his twin brother, police said."With all the necessary procedures completed, Miguel Angel Mejia Munera was carried on a DEA plane to the United States," Colombian police said in a statement.Mejia, 49, had been held in a high-security prison in Colombia since his arrest last May. He is expected to be charged with drug trafficking and money laundering after his arrival in Miami.The U.S. State Department says he and his brother, Victor, shipped at least 68 tonnes of cocaine to the United States and Europe over a two-year period before their network was broken up in 2003.Victor Mejia was killed in a shootout with police days before his brother, known as "The Twin," was found in a secret compartment of a truck headed to Bogota.The brothers were leaders of far-right militias embroiled in a four-decade-old armed conflict in the world's top cocaine producer.They helped negotiate a controversial peace deal with President Alvaro Uribe starting in 2003 but refused to surrender after the talks and instead set up a cocaine smuggling network staffed by demobilized militia members.Paramilitary groups formed in the 1980s to help wealthy Colombians fight left-wing rebels. They also massacred civilians, trafficked cocaine and seized farmland in the name of the counter-insurgency.Since Uribe took office in 2002, he has led a U.S.-funded military crackdown and extradited more than 700 Colombians. But the South American nation still produces at least 600 tonnes of cocaine a year, most of which is sold on the streets of the United States and Europe

Comments

Daniel Bailey has been told to pay up £194,370 by a court. If he fails to hand over the money within six months, he will face a three-year jail term.

Daniel Bailey (35) avoided prison when he received a 26-week suspended sentence after pleading guilty to producing cannabis. But following a separate investigation into his finances by police, he has been told to pay up £194,370 by a court. If he fails to hand over the money within six months, he will face a three-year jail term.During a hearing brought by police under the Proceeds of Crime Act, Lincoln Crown Court was told officers swooped on Bailey's home, near Spalding, on August 5, 2005. They searched the property and found 22 cannabis plants growing among the flowers in his back garden.More cannabis seedlings were discovered in a shed, and two small lumps of the drug were seized in the house.Bailey was subsequently convicted of production of cannabis, which triggered the probe into his financial affairs.The further enquiries showed that in the six years before his arrest, Bailey had claimed incapacity benefit and income support to the tune of more than £21,000, to which he was...

Vanessa and Juan Bedoya, Meneses and Rodriguez-Jimenez are being held in DuPage County Jail in lieu of $1 million bond each.

Vanessa Bedoya, 37, and Juan Bedoya, 38, both of the 1400 block of Green Oak Trail, Aurora, were charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver.Juan Meneses, 32, and Gonzalo Rodriguez-Jimenez, 38, both of the 800 block of Amli Court, Aurora, were charged with unlawful delivery of a controlled substance, the Kane County state's attorney's office said.According to prosecutors, on March 25, Rodriguez-Jimenez and Meneses delivered more than 900 grams of cocaineto another unnamed person. Later, more than 900 grams of cocaine were recovered from Juan and Vanessa Bedoya, who are married. The cocaine was recovered at the home of Francisco Bedoya, 36, also of the 1400 block of Green Oak Trail, Aurora. In addition, more than 900 grams of cocaine was recovered in the home of Juan and Vanessa Bedoya, prosecutors said. Officers searched three Aurora homes Tuesday and found 15 kilograms of cocaine, worth about $4.5 million, along with $50,000 in cash and two vehicle...

Philip Doo (52), Christopher Wiggins (42) and David Mufford (44) were brought before a special sitting of Clonakilty District Court on Saturday night

Philip Doo (52), Christopher Wiggins (42) and David Mufford (44) were brought before a special sitting of Clonakilty District Court on Saturday night amid tight security. A force of up to 30 gardaí, including detectives armed with Uzi submachine guns, surrounded the courthouse.The three men, all from Britain, were charged that on November 5th, 2008, on the vessel Dances with Waves , a ship not registered in any country or territory, they had possession of cocaine knowing it was intended to be imported illegally.The offence, which is contrary to Section 34 (2) (4) of the Criminal Justice Drugs Trafficking Act 1994, carries a maximum penalty upon conviction at Circuit Court level of a a fine or seven years in jail or both. Det Garda Ronan Cowley of the Garda National Drugs Unit gave evidence of arrest, charge and caution in relation to Mr Doo, of Rocklands House, Higher Manor Road, Brixham, Devon, and told the court that Mr Doo did not wish to reply to the charge after caution.Det Garda ...

Criminology and Psychology

Search This Blog