Colombia extradites cooperative warlord
source: http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D96O29581&show_article=1&catnum=0
BOGOTA (AP) - A Colombian warlord who has cooperated closely with prosecutors was extradited to the United States on Thursday despite human rights groups' objections that sending him away could leave hundreds of murders unsolved.
Heberth Veloza, alias "HH," has admitted to personally killing more than 100 people and has acknowledged that fighters under his command killed hundreds more. He is the 17th Colombian paramilitary boss to be extradited to the United States in less than a year to face drug-trafficking charges.
Handcuffed and wearing a dark jacket, Veloza departed for New York on a DEA Super King turboprop plane accompanied by four U.S. agents, judicial police chief Col. Cesar Pinzon told The Associated Press. He was to switch planes at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Veloza, 41, was a top lieutenant of the Castano brothers, who founded Colombia's far-right militias in the 1980s. Initially backed by drug traffickers and ranchers to counter kidnapping and extortion by leftist rebels, the private armies evolved into regional mafias.
Prosecutors say they committed well over 10,000 murders and stole millions of acres of land, often in collusion with local political and business leaders.
Heberth Veloza, alias "HH," has admitted to personally killing more than 100 people and has acknowledged that fighters under his command killed hundreds more. He is the 17th Colombian paramilitary boss to be extradited to the United States in less than a year to face drug-trafficking charges.
Handcuffed and wearing a dark jacket, Veloza departed for New York on a DEA Super King turboprop plane accompanied by four U.S. agents, judicial police chief Col. Cesar Pinzon told The Associated Press. He was to switch planes at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Veloza, 41, was a top lieutenant of the Castano brothers, who founded Colombia's far-right militias in the 1980s. Initially backed by drug traffickers and ranchers to counter kidnapping and extortion by leftist rebels, the private armies evolved into regional mafias.
Prosecutors say they committed well over 10,000 murders and stole millions of acres of land, often in collusion with local political and business leaders.
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