InfoBrief - April 4, 2006

US Current Affairs and Media

• US Authorities Uncover Cocaine-Smuggling Ring, Arrest Colombian Police Seven suspects in a cocaine-smuggling operation that consisted of retired and active Colombian military and police officers, as well as an Avianca airline employee, were arrested this week by US authorities. The suspects were allegedly recruited by the notorious Norte del Valle drug cartel to facilitate the shipment of cocaine out of Bogotá’s international airport on Avianca cargo planes. A retired police major and captain, a former army lieutenant, two police officers and an Avianca airline employee are among those arrested and awaiting extradition to the US. Sentences for the suspects could range anywhere from 10 years to life in prison, though the US has promised not to assign life sentences to the Colombians who will be extradited from that country. The operation was a collaborative effort on the part of US prosecutors in Manhattan, US Drug Enforcement Officials in Colombia and New York, as well as other agencies in Mexico.
• General, Colonel of 17th Brigade Sanctioned for Complacency in San José de Apartadó The Office of the Judge Advocate General in Colombia has suspended the wages of retired General Pablo A. Rodríguez and Colonel Javier V. Hernández for failing to provide the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó with adequate protection from armed actors. While on duty in the region from 2001- 2002, Rodríguez failed “to design and implement an effective strategy to protect the community.” It was found that the level of attacks did not differ from the preceding years, despite the presence of Rodríguez as commander of the 17th Brigade. As commander of the 17th Engineers Battalion Bejarano Muñoz, Colonel Hernández was also unable to stem trends of violence against the community. The Judge Advocate General implicated Hernández for complacency, stating that the continuing attacks on civilians and transit routes should not have occurred, given the protection measures Hernández claims to have made. The Peace Community of San José de Apartadó has been under almost constant attack by guerilla, paramilitary, and security forces since its formation in 1997.