Extradition from Romania for Colombian Drug Boss

Preet Bharara, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Michele M. Leonhart, the Acting Administrator of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), announced the arrival today of Jesus Eduardo Valencia-Arbelaez, aka "Padre," aka "Pat," who was extradited from Romania this morning to face cocaine trafficking and money laundering charges in the Southern District of New York.

Valencia-Arbelaez was a leader of a sophisticated international cocaine trafficking organization (the Organization) based in Colombia and Venezuela that operated worldwide, including in Bolivia, Spain, Holland, Sierra Leone, Guinea Conakry, Mauritania, Mali, Cyprus, and the United States. Beginning in September 2007, members of the Organization sought to purchase a cargo
airplane for the purpose of transporting metric tons of cocaine from Venezuela to West Africa.

Between September 2007 and March 2009, Manuel Silva-Jaramillo, a member of the Organization arrested earlier this year, conducted meetings in connection with the Organization's efforts to acquire the airplane in, among other places, Madrid, New York and Virginia. Silva-Jaramillo arranged to finance the purchase of the airplane through a corporation based in Cyprus and to register it in Sierra Leone.

"Manhattan U.S. Attorney Announces Extradition", Reuters, 9/3/09.