BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) - The Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that
Colombian drug suspect could be sent to the United States, paving the
way for the second such extradition after a decade-long hiatus.

Orlando Garcia, 47, was one of 18 alleged members of a cocaine
smuggling ring arrested in a February 1999 sweep.

He faces a New Jersey indictment for smuggling 230 pounds of cocaine
into the United States in liquor boxes, the Supreme Court said.

His alleged role in the organization - based in the port of
Buenaventura and headed by reputed kingpin Jorge Asprilla, who is also
in jail pending an extradition request - was unclear.

President Andres Pastrana, who has resumed extraditions in courting
improved U.S. ties and anti-narcotics aid, has 10 days to either
uphold or reject the Supreme Court's decision.

Garcia would be the first Colombian extradited to the United States
since November, when Pastrana sent heroin suspect Jaime Lara to stand
trial in New York. Lara was the first Colombian extradited to the
United States since 1990.

Colombia's 1991 constitution - approved amid a wave of bombings and
assassinations by drug cartels - outlawed extradition, but the
practice was reinstated in 1997.

U.S. extradition requests are pending for many Colombians far better
known than Garcia. They include former Medellin cocaine boss Fabio
Ochoa.