COLOMBIA COURT O.K.s EXTRADITION

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) -- Colombia's Supreme Court on Tuesday approved the
extradition of a suspected cocaine trafficker to stand trial in the United
States.

Pending President Andres Pastrana's approval, Milton Perlaza would become
the fourth Colombian delivered to U.S. authorities in nine months,
following a decade-long ban on extradition.

The handovers have resumed despite traffickers' threats of retaliation and
some critics who say Colombia is forfeiting its sovereignty. But the policy
is applauded in Washington, which is providing the South American country
with $1.3 billion to battle drug trafficking.

Perlaza, who was arrested in February 1999 along with 18 alleged members of
the Los Niches cocaine ring, faces drug smuggling charges in the Southern
District of New York, Supreme Court spokesman German Gomez said.

In July, Pastrana extradited alleged Los Niches member Orlando Garcia to
face cocaine smuggling charges in New Jersey. The gang's purported kingpin,
Jorge Asprilla, is in a Bogota prison and also faces a U.S. extradition
request.

Colombia stopped extraditing nationals in 1991 after a wave of cartel
bombings and assassinations cowed politicians into banning the practice in
a constitutional reform.

Colombia's Congress reversed that decision under U.S. pressure in 1997,
paving the way for extradition to resume.

Colombia supplies an estimated 90 percent of the world's cocaine and is a
major source of heroin sold in the United States.