GOVERNMENT STUDYING DRUG CARTEL'S PROPOSAL

The government is studying a surrender proposal from the leaders of one of
Colombia's most powerful drug cartels, officials said Monday in Bogotá.

Leaders of the North Valley drug cartel were offering to surrender to
Colombian authorities in exchange for a promise that they would not be
extradited to the United States, according to local reports. The proposal
was relayed to the government by a Roman Catholic bishop.

Colombia has in the past negotiated deals with drug kingpins that included
promises not to extradite them to the United States. The traffickers,
including the late Pablo Escobar, were allowed to live in luxurious
Colombian prisons.

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