COURT BANS EXTRADITION OF JAILED CALI DRUG LORDS

BOGOTA (Reuters) - A high court voted Thursday to effectively ban sending
Colombia's jailed drug kingpins -- including its billionaire Cali cocaine
merchants -- to stand trial in the United States.

The ruling by Colombia's Constitutional Court upheld a law passed by
Congress in 1997 when it lifted a 6-year-old ban on extradition but said it
could not be applied to crimes committed before the new law took effect in
December.

The court's president, Vladimiro Naranjo, conceded that the 5-4 ruling was
likely to ``do damage'' to Colombia, by adding to its drug-tained image
abroad. And even some political allies of President Andres Pastrana, who
took office in August, said it was sure to put new strains on ties between
Washington and Bogota.

Pastrana campaigned on a pledge to extradite any jailed drug lords wanted
for trial in a foreign court. ``If there are criminals who have committed
crimes outside of Colombia, and other countries want them, we're going to
extradite them,'' he said before his election.

Naranjo said the court ruling was final and not subject to appeal, however,
and government officials immediately endorsed it despite the pressures that
it might bring from Washington.

``The decision of the judicial branch and Congress cannot be subject to
pressures,'' said Justice Minister Parmenio Cuellar.

``We can't please the United States in everything we do,'' added Senate
president Fabio Valencia, a close Pastrana ally.

``We can't legislate thinking of the United States, but of Colombia,'' he
said.

Naranjo said the only way to lift the ban on "retroactive extradition'' now
was through a new constitutional amendment, which would have to be approved
by two consecutive sessions of Congress. But Valencia appeared to rule out
any government initiative to that effect, saying "the decision has been
taken.''

U.S. officials have criticized the extradition law on grounds that it
protects many drug kings such as brothers Gilberto and Miguel Rodiguez
Orejuela, who for years ran the Cali drug mob.

The brothers are serving out relatively light sentences in Bogota's La
Picota prison. But they top U.S. wanted lists, and would likely face
multiple life terms in the United States if they were sent there for trial.

Naranjo said the Cali capos could still face extradition, ''if it is proven
that they continued committing crimes in jail'' after Dec. 16, 1997.

But no such crimes have been documented so far, even though the U.S. State
Department said in a 1997 report that the brothers were "credibly
believed'' to have run their underground drug empire from prison since they
were jailed in 1995.

The only plus for the United States in Thursday's ruling is that it clears
the way, with immediate effect, for the extradition of Colombia drug lords
convicted for crimes committed since December.

Judicial sources have speculated that some of those lower- ranking
traffickers may be willing to testify against the Rodriguezes -- as part of
a plea-bargain deal -- and help nail them for crimes carried out since last
year.

Checked-by: Richard Lake