U.S. Officials Worry About Delays In Extradition Of Colombian Drug Suspects

BOGOTA, March 3, (AP) -- The opening of criminal investigations
against some high-profile Colombian drug suspects could prevent or
delay their extradition to the United States, concerned U.S. officials
and legal experts are saying.

Colombia's chief prosecutor announced this week that he was probing
possible charges against dozens of members of a major
cocaine-smuggling ring broken up two years ago in Operation
Millennium, a much-publicized U.S. and Colombian sweep.

Five of the 31 people originally arrested already have been sent to
the United States to stand trial. But several alleged ringleaders are
still in Colombia, fighting extradition.

The gang was said to be shipping 30 tons of cocaine to the United
States through Mexico monthly before the October 1999 crackdown.

In Washington on Friday, DEA director Donnie Marshall told Congress
that the Colombian investigations could create a "double jeopardy"
situation in which the suspects were being tried twice for the same
crime. That could bog down or block the extradition process, Marshall
added.

However, chief Colombian prosecutor Alfonso Gomez said he did not
think local investigations or convictions would necessarily prevent
extradition. The Supreme Court, which must give its stamp of approval
to any extraditions, said it was studying the matter.

The U.S. government has long pressed for extradition because it
maintains that Colombia's corruption-prone courts are ineffective and
too easy on criminals.

Colombia outlawed extradition in 1991 following a bloody bombing and
assassination campaign by drug cartels. Acceding to U.S. pressure,
Colombia resumed the practice in 1999. Colombia extradited 12 suspects
to the United States last year, nine of them Colombian citizens.