ROANOKE COCAINE TRAFFICKER GETS 11-YEAR TERM

Convicted Felon Sought Leniency From Judge

Humberto "Pum Pum" Jose Cadavid, 40, was part of a ring that supplied
more than 2 tons of the drug.

By JEN McCAFFERY
(http://www.theroanoketimes.com)The Roanoke Times

Cocaine is a part of life in Colombia, an operative for an
international drug ring that trafficked more than 2 tons of cocaine
through the Roanoke Valley about a decade ago said in federal court
Wednesday.

After the hearing, Frederick Kelly, attorney for Humberto "Pum Pum"
Jose Cadavid, said, "It would be hard to escape being involved with
cocaine if you were from Colombia. He just happened to get involved
with a network that got caught."

Cadavid, 40, asked U.S. District Judge James Turk to consider his
background before he handed down a sentence.

Turk sentenced Cadavid to just more than 11 years in prison for
conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute more
than 5 kilograms of cocaine. Turk waived any fine because he said
Cadavid would not be able to pay it.

The conspiracy was run by fellow Colombian Leonardo Rivera. Rivera
operated a New York-based ring and claimed to be the Cali cartel's
main American distributor until he was caught in 1991. Rivera is
currently serving an eight-year sentence.

Cadavid was the "secretario," or secretary of Rivera's operation,
said Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Mott, who prosecuted the case.

Rivera's co-conspirator, Javier Cruz, served as a federal informant
with Rivera after both were caught. Cruz, who had faced a murder
charge in North Carolina, attracted controversy when
(http://www.theroanoketimes.com)The Roanoke Times revealed he was
free and working as an informant.

Cruz fled the country on the eve of his sentencing. He is rumored to
have been killed in Colombia, but that has not been confirmed.

Cadavid was the first defendant extradited as a result of Operation
El Cid, an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration that
resulted in the indictment of more than 50 people from New York to
Colombia. Many of the defendants in the case remain at large.

Federal authorities learned last year that Cadavid was in Sydney,
Australia, after he became the subject of a cocaine investigation
there. According to court testimony, he had followed his brother
Carlos there.

Humberto Cadavid testified through an interpreter that he hid in
Australia for 18 months. Carlos Cadavid was also trafficking drugs
there, Humberto Cadavid testified. Carlos Cadavid is now incarcerated
in Italy, Mott said.

Because of the instability in Colombia, "the traffickers are in some
disarray," Mott said. Some other fugitives in the case could possibly
turn up as a result of other investigations out of New York and
Miami, Mott said.