Colombia extradites ex-paras to the U.S.

On separate occasions, Colombian authorities extradited two former paramilitary heads to the U.S. where they await trail on drug charges.

On Thursday, Ever “HH” Veloza was extradited to the U.S. after he was handed over to Drug Enforcement Administration agents in Bogota. Veloza- who admitted to being involved in at least 2500 murders- thus becomes the seventeenth former paramilitary figure to be sent to the U.S. in less than a year.

Veloza was supposed to be extradited last year but it was delayed so that he could confess to his crimes. He was captured by police in 2007 despite taking part in negotiations for Colombian president Alvaro Uribe’s controversial paramilitary demobilization program.

Officials have promised that Colombian prosecutors will have sufficient access to “HH” while he’s jailed in the U.S. Still, some victim’s rights activists in Colombia have their doubts:

"There was no reason for an extradition with such urgency," said Ivan Cepeda, spokesman for the National Movement of Victims of Crimes of the State. "We didn't ask that he not be extradited, just that it be delayed until he could confess to everything."

Prosecutor Nubia Chavez said Veloza has acknowledged 480 murders by fighters under his command, including the 2004 killing of another notorious warlord, Carlos Castano. She said hundreds of others remain unsolved.

"I think he was able to confess to about 50 percent of his crimes," Chavez told the AP.

Veloza’s extradition comes roughly 24 hours after a DEA plane shipped ex-paramilitary leader Miguel Angel Mejia to Miami. According to the State Department, Mejia and his late brother, Victor ran the “Twins Cartel” which shipped 68 tons of cocaine to the United States and Europe.

Image- AP (“Police officers escort former paramilitary boss Miguel Angel Mejia Munera upon his arrival from a high security jail to the police wing of Bogota's airport.”)
Online Sources- Reuters, The Telegraph, Voice of America, AP