U.S. arrest warrant for Mauricio Santoyo is first for high-ranking Colombian officer
BOGOTA (TrustLaw) - A U.S. court has issued an arrest warrant for retired Colombian police general Mauricio Santoyo, in connection with drug trafficking, marking the first time a high-ranking Colombian officer has been indicted on drug charges, Colombia's El Tiempo newspaper reported this week.
Santoyo, who served as security chief to former Colombian president Alvaro Uribe from 2002 to 2006, is accused of conspiring with drug-running paramilitary groups and an infamous crime syndicate based in Medellin, to smuggle cocaine to the United States, the newspaper said.
According to an indictment issued last month by a U.S. judge in a Virginia court and later published in the Colombian press, Santoyo is also accused of receiving pay-offs from drug traffickers of up to $5 million for providing them with intelligence information about rival drug gangs and ongoing investigations using information gleaned from illegal wiretaps.
Santoyo served in the national police force for 30 years, and was also commander of Colombia's elite anti-kidnapping police unit. He denies he was involved in drug trafficking.
Colombian authorities said on Wednesday they had not received an arrest warrant for Santoyo from U.S. officials.
But several Colombian government officials have urged the former general, whose current whereabouts are unknown, to come forward.
“I must point out to General Santoyo that he should present himself to the North American judicial authorities to define his situation,” Colombia’s police chief, General Jose Roberto Leon, was quoted as saying in El Tiempo.
If Santoyo is found guilty of drug trafficking, it would be an embarrassment for the Colombian government. Under a U.S. aid package known as Plan Colombia, Washington gives Bogota hundreds of millions of dollars every year to fight drug traffickers.
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