COLOMBIAN DRUG KINGPIN CONVICTED OF SMUGGLING

Effect on Trade Likely Minimal

TAMPA - A federal jury Wednesday handed the government a near-total
victory, convicting a man described by prosecutors as one of the
world's most powerful drug lords.

However, the case against Joaquin Mario Valencia-Trujillo will have
little effect on the U.S. drug war.

A former leader in Colombia's notorious Cali cartel, Valencia was the
top prize of "Operation Panama Express," a decade-long Tampa-based
international drug investigation, which continues to target cocaine
smugglers with no signs of abetting.

"It seems to be fairly constant," Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph K.
Ruddy said about the activity of the task force. "If anything, we're
probably at a slight uptrend. ... The Coast Guard has been setting
records in the number of seizures, and they will tell you that's due
to intel from Panama Express."

Ruddy said Wednesday's verdict was "a significant conviction, but
certainly not the final case or target of the operation. We're going
to have more. We have more coming in the future."

Ruddy said it's hard to know whether the investigation has made a
dent in Colombian drug exports. Judging by one measure, he said, the
cocaine business is as strong as ever.

"One barometer is the price of cocaine has not changed, if at all,
not significantly," he said. "We may not be impacting all the supply
and demand, but apprehending people at different levels. The
traffickers may be able to make up for their losses from seizures we
have done with additional supplies."

Valencia was found guilty by a federal jury after 2 1/2 days of
deliberations of conspiracy to import cocaine into the United States,
conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, engaging in a
continuing criminal enterprise, and conspiracy to engage in money laundering.

The jury also found that the prosecution had proved 24 of 30
underlying crimes, known in legal parlance as predicate acts, which
support the racketeering charge. The law required the government to
prove at least three predicate acts.

Although the charges against Valencia usually carry a sentence of up
to life, the defendant faces no more than 40 years in federal prison
under the terms of his extradition.

Jurors also ordered Valencia to forfeit $330 million in proceeds from
cocaine smuggled into the United States since Dec. 17, 1997, a date
set by Colombian law for prosecutions against extradited defendants.
However, that finding was largely symbolic because it enables the
U.S. government to seize assets only on U.S. soil. Valencia's known
assets are all in Colombia.

Most jurors refused to talk to reporters, but two women on the jury
said the panel was thorough and deliberate in reaching its conclusion.

"We were in agreement right away," said juror Patty Labarbera, who
said the panel had some issues to work through before announcing its
verdict. She didn't specify the issues. She said jurors weren't
particularly impressed by the defense's case, which she said
consisted mainly of character witnesses.

"That man got a fair break," juror Emma Musco said. "We questioned a
lot of things. Both sides presented their case to the best of their ability."

Musco said jurors weren't swayed by defense arguments that the
government should not have cut deals with killers and drug
traffickers to get them to testify against Valencia. "Unfortunately,
to catch a serious criminal, you've got to deal with serious
criminals," she said.

Defense attorneys Ronald Kurpiers and Matthew Farmer said they are
planning an appeal.

"It's an understatement to say that we're devastated," Kurpiers said.

Kurpiers said Valencia was businesslike after the verdict, asking his
attorneys what needed to be done for the appeal. "We feel for Mr.
Valencia and his entire family," he said. "It's been very hard on him
and his kids."

He said Valencia has five children, ages 3 to 16.

In contrast to the devastation felt by the defense, federal officials
were almost giddy about the verdict.

"This is a good victory for the task force and for the country," said
Carl Whitehead, special agent in charge of the Tampa division of the
FBI, which participates in Panama Express. Whitehead said Valencia is
the most significant drug trafficker convicted in Tampa. "I would say
for the U.S. government, there have been other leaders convicted, but
he's right up there as one of the top persons we've convicted in the
drug trade."

"His time has come for him to pay," Whitehead said, echoing a
statement made by Ruddy in his trial summation.

Dominic P. Albanese, retired head of the Tampa office of the Drug
Enforcement Administration, said of the verdict: "I think it's very
exciting. It shows you can't run and hide behind your money. ... He's
got more money than Pablo Escobar had. He's a very big deal."

Ruddy said that although Valencia was a significant trafficker, he
was very low-profile. The prosecutor said Valencia emerged as a
leader in the cartel after those in its first generation of leaders
were killed or incarcerated.

"The formerly second tier rose to prominence, and Mario was one of
them," Ruddy said.

The prosecutor said drug cartels and other smugglers continue to
evolve to face new challenges.

"The landscape is changing, and that's where we're at," he said