Major Colombian Drug Kingpin Extradited to US
Jim Kouri, CPP
March 18, 2006
Julio Cesar Lopez-Pena a/k/a ?Julito,? a/k/a ?J,? a high-ranking member of the notorious Norte Valle Cartel in Colombia was extradited from Colombia to the United States and arraigned in federal court in New York City. The case is characterized as a "major catch."
Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge John P. Gilbride stated, ?This extradition signifies the collaborative strength of law enforcement to weed out those responsible for exporting thousands of pounds of destruction into our communities throughout the United States.?
Lopez-Pena was formally extradited from Colombia on March 15, 2006 and will be arraigned was arraigned on Thursday before a United States Magistrate Judge in Manhattan federal court.
In May 2004, the United States Attorney General announced the unsealing of racketeering and narcotics-importation charges against ten leaders of the Norte Valle Cartel for importing more than $10 billion worth of cocaine into the United States since 1990. According to the Indictment, Lopez-Pena was responsible for importing thousands of kilograms of cocaine and kilogram quantities of heroin, worth an estimated $100 million, into the United States since at least 1998.
According to the three-count Indictment and the United States the "Extradition Package," beginning in 1998, Lopez-Pena operated a cocaine laboratory under the control of Norte Valle Cartel leader Wilmer Alirio Varela.
At the laboratory, he allegedly produced hundreds of kilograms of cocaine per week, a majority of which was sent to the United States. Many of these cocaine shipments, which each contained between 1,500 and 1,800 kilograms of cocaine, were sent by boat from Colombia?s west coast to Mexico and ultimately to the United States, it was charged.
The Indictment and the Extradition Package further allege that Lopez-Pena was also the leader of a criminal organization responsible for importing multi-kilogram quantities of heroin into the United States for distribution, using, among other methods, suitcases inside which the heroin was secreted. On two occasions during October 2004, in Miami, FL, and New York, NY, the DEA seized multi-kilogram quantities of heroin sent by Lopez-Pena and his co-conspirators from Colombia.
Following these two seizures, Colombian law enforcement officers, who were conducting interceptions of conversations over several Colombian telephones used by Lopez-Pena's co-conspirators, intercepted conversations during which the Miami and New York heroin seizures were discussed, according to the Extradition Package.
In those conversations, other coconspirators referred to Lopez-Pena by his nicknames ?Julito? and ?J? as the leader of the heroin-trafficking organization. As charged in the Extradition Package, at the time of his arrest by Colombian law enforcement officers in 2005, he was in possession of firearms.
If convicted, Lopez-Pena faces a maximum sentence of life in prison and a mandatory minimum sentence of ten years in prison. The Indictment also seeks forfeiture of $100 million from Lopez-Pena.
Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge John P. Gilbride stated, ?This extradition signifies the collaborative strength of law enforcement to weed out those responsible for exporting thousands of pounds of destruction into our communities throughout the United States.?
Lopez-Pena was formally extradited from Colombia on March 15, 2006 and will be arraigned was arraigned on Thursday before a United States Magistrate Judge in Manhattan federal court.
In May 2004, the United States Attorney General announced the unsealing of racketeering and narcotics-importation charges against ten leaders of the Norte Valle Cartel for importing more than $10 billion worth of cocaine into the United States since 1990. According to the Indictment, Lopez-Pena was responsible for importing thousands of kilograms of cocaine and kilogram quantities of heroin, worth an estimated $100 million, into the United States since at least 1998.
According to the three-count Indictment and the United States the "Extradition Package," beginning in 1998, Lopez-Pena operated a cocaine laboratory under the control of Norte Valle Cartel leader Wilmer Alirio Varela.
At the laboratory, he allegedly produced hundreds of kilograms of cocaine per week, a majority of which was sent to the United States. Many of these cocaine shipments, which each contained between 1,500 and 1,800 kilograms of cocaine, were sent by boat from Colombia?s west coast to Mexico and ultimately to the United States, it was charged.
The Indictment and the Extradition Package further allege that Lopez-Pena was also the leader of a criminal organization responsible for importing multi-kilogram quantities of heroin into the United States for distribution, using, among other methods, suitcases inside which the heroin was secreted. On two occasions during October 2004, in Miami, FL, and New York, NY, the DEA seized multi-kilogram quantities of heroin sent by Lopez-Pena and his co-conspirators from Colombia.
Following these two seizures, Colombian law enforcement officers, who were conducting interceptions of conversations over several Colombian telephones used by Lopez-Pena's co-conspirators, intercepted conversations during which the Miami and New York heroin seizures were discussed, according to the Extradition Package.
In those conversations, other coconspirators referred to Lopez-Pena by his nicknames ?Julito? and ?J? as the leader of the heroin-trafficking organization. As charged in the Extradition Package, at the time of his arrest by Colombian law enforcement officers in 2005, he was in possession of firearms.
If convicted, Lopez-Pena faces a maximum sentence of life in prison and a mandatory minimum sentence of ten years in prison. The Indictment also seeks forfeiture of $100 million from Lopez-Pena.
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