CALI CARTEL BOSS TO BE FREED FROM COLOMBIAN PRISON

BOGOTA, Colombia (Reuters) - A Colombian judge on Thursday ordered the
release from prison of one of Colombia's most infamous drug lords, former
Cali cocaine cartel boss Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela, after serving less
than half of a 17-year sentence -- cut short for good behavior.

Judge Luz Angela Moncada ordered Rodriguez Orejuela's immediate release
from the maximum security Combita prison, granting a habeas corpus request
that overrides legal efforts by President Alvaro Uribe to keep the drug
lord behind bars.

The release of Rodriguez Orejuela, 63, will anger the Colombian government,
which considers the 1995 capture of him and his brother Miguel as one the
as one of the biggest triumphs in the U.S.-backed war on drugs.

Once known as the Chess Player for his ability to outmaneuver authorities,
Gilberto helped rule an underground cocaine empire thought to have amassed
him billions of dollars in personal wealth throughout the 1990s.

He was found hiding in a closet in his hometown of Cali in 1995 after an
exhaustive police manhunt, which later also nabbed his brother. Miguel was
also due to be released early, but in a separate case this week a court
sentenced him to another four years in prison -- for bribing a judge.