Alleged drug kingpin arrives in U.S.
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Fabio Ochoa, allegedly a founder of the infamous Medellin drug cartel, arrived in the United States early Saturday to stand trial on drug trafficking charges, U.S. government sources told CNN. Ochoa will face trial for a 1999 federal indictment returned in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) claims Ochoa and his co-conspirators took part in a trafficking scheme in which 20 to 30 tons of cocaine per month were smuggled into the United States and Europe through Mexico. He is among the highest-ranking drug traffickers to be extradited to the United States. In 1987, another alleged founder of the cartel, Carlos Lehder, was arrested and brought to Florida, where he was tried and convicted. Colombian President Andres Pastrana and the Supreme Court of Colombia ordered Ochoa extradited last week, but Ochoa appealed to a judge, who held up his extradition until the U.S. government could assure her that Ochoa would only be charged on the 1999 indictment and not in any of the other federal cases against him. More : edition.cnn.com |