DRUG LORD FOUND GUILTY ON ALL COUNTS BY FEDERAL JURY

UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- Reputed international drug lord Justo Pastor Perafan was
found guilty by a federal court jury Friday of conspiring to smuggle 30 tons
of Colombian cocaine into the United States over a six-year period.

The jury returned its finding after a three-month trial and after 23 hours
of deliberations over three days in the case of Pastor Perafan -- known as
the ``Big Boss,'' and described by authorities as the last of the major
Colombian drug barons of the 1980s and early 1990s.

Pastor Perafan was found guilty of all eight counts in an indictment
charging him with engaging in a criminal enterprise and conspiracy to import
and conspiracy to distribute illegal narcotics.

The charges carry penalties including death or life in prison, but Pastor
Perafan, 51, will serve no more than 30 years under an extradition agreement
wit Venezuela, where he was captured in 1996. Judge Thomas Platt ordered a
pre-sentencing report and said he would set a sentencing date after he has
reviewed the report.

At the time of his arrest, Pastor Perafan was a fugitive from a 1994 U.S.
grand jury indictment and also wanted in his native Colombia.

The chief of Colombia's anti-narcotics police, Col. Leonardo Gallego,
praised the verdict, saying it would discourage other traffickers and
``motivates the work of the police.''

Pastor Perafan, a short, stocky man with slicked-back dark hair and heavy
features, showed no emotion as the verdict was read. Several members of his
family, which includes a total of 10 children, were seated behind him in the
tiny courtroom.

Ivan Fisher, Pastor Perafan's attorney, said an appeal was planned.

``We are extremely disappointed from the many readbacks the jury requested
during the deliberations that suggested we were heading towards victory,''
Fisher said. ``It was a very big surprise. A colossal shock and a terrible
defeat.''

Pastor Perafan was visibly shaken as he was taken out of the courtroom for
transport to the Metropolitan Correction Center, where he was being held
without bail.

Demetri Jones, the assistant U.S. attorney who prosecuted the case, said the
police agencies involved in the investigation had built a strong case.

``We are pleased that we have obtained a conviction against a major
narcotics trafficker from Colombia,'' Jones said.

While apparently less prone to violence, Perafan was compared by the U.S.
Drug Enforcement Administration to more notorious Colombian drug kingpins,
including Pablo Escobar, the Medellin cartel boss who was killed in a bloody
police ambush in 1993, and Cali cartel leaders Miguel and Gilberto Rodriguez
Orejuela, captured in 1995.

Checked-by: Melodi Cornett