JUDGE DELAYS OCHOA EXTRADITION

BOGOTA, Colombia -- A judge delayed a former cocaine cartel leader's
extradition to the United States, saying Friday she needed to evaluate
whether Colombians handed over earlier were prosecuted legally.

Fabio Ochoa, once a part of drug kingpin Pablo Escobar's infamous Medellin
cartel, would be the highest-profile suspect sent to the United States for
trial since Colombia resumed extraditions in 1997.

President Andres Pastrana approved Ochoa's extradition on Monday. U.S.
officials had expected him to be delivered to a Florida jail within days.
He faces a federal indictment from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., alleging he was
part of a gang that exported 30 tons of cocaine a month to the United States.

Judge Maria Merchan said she stayed the extradition because of claims by
Ochoa that a heroin suspect extradited two years ago, Jaime Lara, faced
charges that went beyond the extradition order after he was delivered to
the U.S. justice system.

She ordered the Colombian foreign ministry to obtain a response from the
U.S. government within five days on whether Ochoa's claims are valid.

The decision was immediately criticized by the Colombian Supreme Court,
which had authorized Ochoa's extradition last week.

"This is inexplicable," Supreme Court president Jorge Castillo told reporters.

The U.S. Embassy said it was reviewing Merchan's order and had no immediate
comment. Pastrana's office also had no immediate comment.

Ochoa's lawyer, Irwin Garces, told reporters the decision meant the court
was questioning the U.S. case against Ochoa. But Merchan denied that,
saying she only wanted to make sure that Ochoa's rights would be protected,
including that he would not face trial for crimes committed before Colombia
reinstated extradition.

"I'm not saying that the United States did not prove its accusation against
Ochoa. That's none of my business," Merchan told The Associated Press in a
telephone interview.

Merchan said she had 10 days to evaluate the evidence and decide whether to
continue to obstruct Ochoa's extradition.

Although it may prove temporary, the stay was a potential embarrassment for
the government. It coincided with a visit by a high-level delegation from
Washington which is reviewing U.S. counternarcotics aid. Extradition has
been a high priority for the United States. This South American nation
produces most of the world's cocaine and most of the heroin reaching the
United States.

Ochoa's legal battle against extradition contrasts to the terror campaign
waged by the Medellin cartel in the late 1980s, as the drug kingpins sought
to avoid U.S. prisons. The cartel assassinated judges, journalists,
policemen and even Colombia's leading presidential candidate to intimidate
the government against extradition.

In 1990, Ochoa was the first major Colombian trafficker to turn himself
into authorities in return for a promise that he would not be extradited.
But U.S. prosecutors seeking his extradition say Ochoa resumed trafficking
cocaine after leaving jail in 1996.

Ochoa was arrested in October 1999 along with dozens of other suspected
traffickers.