ROANOKE DRUG RING KEY PLAYER IS GUILTY

Colombian Was Found In Australia. He Was Charged In 1991 With Being Part Of
A Drug Conspiracy Uncovered
During Operation El Cid.

A Colombian man who federal authorities say served as a lieutenant in an
international drug ring that trafficked tons of cocaine through the Roanoke
Valley during the early 1990s pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday
after being extradited from Australia.

Humberto Jose "PumPum" Cadavid, 39, was indicted in 1991 as a result of an
investigation by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration known as
Operation El Cid.

The case marks the first successful extradition of a defendant as a result
of the operation. Fifty people from New York to Colombia were charged, but
many remain at large.

Cadavid was charged with participating in a drug conspiracy that was run by
Leonardo Rivera, who claimed to be the Cali cartel's main American
distributor until he was caught in 1991.

Also indicted as a result of the investigation was Javier Cruz, who had
worked for Rivera smuggling cocaine through Roanoke. After both men were
arrested in 1991, they became federal informants and worked undercover as
part of El Cid.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Mott said Cadavid acted as the "secretario," or
secretary, for Rivera's New York-based operation.

"He mainly kept track of deliveries of cocaine," Mott said. Rivera's
operation during one year brought in as much as $33 million worth of cocaine.

In 1990, Cadavid arranged for the shipment of 180 kilograms of cocaine from
Phoenix, Ariz., to a stash house on Bent Mountain, the indictment alleged.

Cadavid was arrested in Sydney, Australia, in June 1999, according to court
records. Mott said law enforcement officials tracked Cadavid down after he
became the subject of a cocaine investigation in Australia. Cadavid was
extradited to the United States last spring and remains in custody at
Roanoke City Jail.

With Cadavid's guilty plea, he faces a life sentence in prison, with a
mandatory minimum of 10 years and a fine of $4 million.

Other defendants convicted as a result of El Cid are serving a range of
sentences. Cruz fled to Colombia in 1998 before he was sentenced in
absentia to life in prison. Reports later surfaced that he had been killed
in Colombia, though Mott said his office had not received confirmation of
his death.

Rivera is serving an eight-year sentence in Florida, Mott said.

Julio Roberto Castellanos, at whose trial Rivera provided testimony and who
served as his "right-hand man," is serving a 16 -year sentence, Mott said.

Other defendants, including Cruz's ex-wife, Pamela, were sentenced in 1998
to probation and ordered to do community service. Most were smugglers who
later cooperated with the government.

Mott said he might seek the extradition of Cadavid's brother, Carlos, who
was also indicted as a result of El Cid. Carlos Cadavid is serving time in
an Italian prison on drug charges, Mott said.

As for the remaining Colombian defendants, Mott said law enforcement
officials cannot extradite anyone for charges that were alleged to have
occurred before 1997. The United States and Colombia have signed an
extradition treaty, but it became effective in December 1997 and does not
apply to Operation El Cid.