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CNN Live Saturday

Alleged Drug Kingpin Fabio Ochoa Extradited to the U.S.

Aired September 08, 2001 - 15:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DONNA KELLEY, CNN ANCHOR: We begin this hour in Florida, where alleged drug kingpin Fabio Ochoa is in federal custody after being extradited from Bogota. He's accused of smuggling up to 30 tons of cocaine a month into the United States and Europe. Federal officials say that they hope Ochoa's extradition will serve as a warning to others involved in the international drug trade.

CNN's Mark Potter has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARK POTTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Security was extremely tight as Fabio Ochoa arrived in Miami before dawn. U.S. drug agents flew him from Bogota, after a Colombian judge cleared his extradition.

The transfer occurred without incident, and Ochoa is now in a federal detention center, where he will await trial. Fabio Ochoa and his family fought desperately against his extradition to the United States, erecting billboards that proclaimed his innocence. He also set up a Web site. The head of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration says despite those efforts, Ochoa's time ran out.

ASA HUTCHINSON, DEA ADMINISTRATOR: His money, his power, his influence in Colombia, with all of that and the campaign that he mounted, Colombia had the political will to go ahead and bring Ochoa to justice.

POTTER: Drug agents say Fabio Ochoa was one of the leaders of Colombia's infamous Medellin cocaine cartel. In the 1970s and '80s, the trafficking group operated like a major corporation, and allegedly manufactured and smuggled billions of dollars worth of cocaine into the United States.

JIM MILFORD, FORMER DEO SUPERVISOR: Fabio Ochoa, and his family, and his partners in crime in that trafficking activity were one of the major reasons that cocaine rose to the levels it is today -- what it is today in the United States and throughout the world.

POTTER: In 1986, Fabio Ochoa and other accused traffickers, including the notorious Pablo Escobar, were indicted in the United States for allegedly running a criminal enterprise and murdering a U.S. drug informant. (on camera): Facing trial here in the U.S., Ochoa surrendered to Colombian authorities in 1990, after receiving assurances he would not be extradited for past crimes. He and two of his brothers served less than six years in prison.

(voice-over): But three years after his release, Fabio Ochoa was arrested in Colombia, once again accused of taking part in a major smuggling scheme.

FRANK CHELLINO, DEA SUPERVISOR: Upward of 20 to 30 tons of cocaine per month were being imported through Mexico into the United States by this organization, to the tune of $60 million to $100 million per month.

POTTER: This time, Colombian President Andres Pastrana, himself once kidnapped by drug traffickers, ordered Ochoa extradited to the United States. By agreement, he can only be tried on the latest charge, not the earlier indictments.

U.S. drug agents concede Ochoa's arrest and extradition will have little, if any, impact on the availability of cocaine in the United States. With many new smuggling groups now, trafficking is still a multi-billion dollar business.

CHELLINO: They are transporting and importing as much, if not more, cocaine in the United States today as they were 15 or 20 years ago.

POTTER: But to authorities, the extradition of an alleged cocaine trafficking pioneer is still a major and long awaited catch.

Mark Potter, CNN, Miami.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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