CALI CARTEL LEADERS GET 30 YEARS IN PRISON, FORFEIT BILLIONS IN ASSETS

Two Colombians who led the Cali cartel -- which once terrorized
Colombia and dominated cocaine smuggling into the United States --
pleaded guilty Tuesday to drug trafficking and money laundering.

As part of their complex plea deal -- reached after months of
negotiations with U.S. agencies -- Gilberto Orejuela, 67, and his
brother Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela, 63, agreed to forfeit billions of
dollars in assets linked to their drug trade.

Each was sentenced to 30 years in a U.S. prison at the pleading in a
Miami courtroom.

"The brothers' guilty pleas effectively signal the final, fatal blow
to the powerful Cali cartel," Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said
at a Washington news conference. "This is a day of pride for the
people of Colombia and for international law enforcement."

A separate deal described in court will protect six of the brothers'
relatives in Colombia from prosecution on obstruction of justice and
money laundering charges. That agreement also could permit 28 people
with ties to the brothers to keep property and other assets not
tainted by drug money.

As described by Gonzales and Adam J. Szubin, director of the Foreign
Assets Control office at the Treasury Department, the 28 people will
be required to turn over any assets -- such as houses, bank accounts,
and businesses -- acquired with drug trafficking. Once those assets
are surrendered, the Orejuela family members could eventually be
removed from a U.S. list freezing their assets and blocking them from
doing business with U.S. entities.

U.S. District Judge Federico Moreno accepted the guilty pleas and
approved the sentencing agreement between prosecutors and defense lawyers.

The brothers agreed to forfeit to the United States $2.1 billion in
assets linked to drug trafficking, but the two clearly made many
times that amount during the cartel's heyday in the 1990s. Gonzales
and the eight other U.S. and Colombian officials at the news
conference were unable to estimate how many illegal billions of
dollars the cartel made during the more than 20 years the two brothers ran it.

The forfeited assets were detailed in an 11-page list and included
properties and businesses around the world. But neither brother is
being required to cooperate in any ongoing or future criminal
investigations, according to the plea agreement.

White House drug czar John Walters said at the news conference that
the cartel had operated by terrorizing Colombian society and killing
prosecutors, judges and political candidates and was responsible for
"the torture and murder of more than 100 people" whose bodies were
dumped in a Colombian river to keep others downstream in fear of the gang.

Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Julie Myers said the pair would
be "the highest-level drug figures to ever occupy a U.S. jail cell."
The only other contender for that honor might be Carlos Lehder, who
helped found an earlier Colombian drug gang, the Medellin cartel. He
was sentenced to 55 years in federal prison in a 1992 plea bargain.

"Are you sure?" Moreno asked Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela when he
entered his plea.

"Very sure," he replied.

Miguel became known as "The Master" for his inventiveness in finding
ways to hide drugs, while Gilberto's nickname was "The Chess Player"
for his role as the cartel's strategic thinker. Their family invested
in dozens of legitimate businesses around the world.

William Rodriguez Abadia, Miguel's son and Gilberto's nephew, agreed
to forfeit about $300 million in worldwide assets after pleading
guilty in March to U.S. charges and agreeing to testify against his
father and uncle.

The History Of A Cartel

The Cali cartel of Colombia became the world's leading cocaine
smuggling ring after eclipsing the rival Medellin cartel, which fell
apart when several top members were arrested and kingpin Pablo
Escobar was killed in a 1993 shootout with Colombian police.

The Cali cartel was once responsible for as much as 80 percent of the
cocaine smuggled into the U.S. The cartel was known for its ingenious
smuggling methods, hiding cocaine in such things as hollowed-out
lumber and cylinders of chlorine.

The U.S. has investigated the cartel since 1991, resulting in more
than 100 convictions, the seizure of more than 50 tons of cocaine and
$15 million in cash.

The cartel is estimated to have smuggled more than 250 tons of
cocaine into the United States since the 1970s. A recent Drug
Enforcement Administration analysis said that several Colombian
organizations now control that country's cocaine trade, increasingly
in concert with Mexican organizations that distribute the drug in the
United States.

Curt Anderson of The Associated Press contributed to this report.