Colombian Judge Slain; President Blames Drug Ring

A Supreme Court justice who approved extraditions of drug trafficking suspects to the United States was assassinated Thursday by a man with a submachine gun who walked up to his car at a traffic light.

A bodyguard and a 17-year-old boy on a motorcycle also were killed. The assassin wounded Justice Hernando Baquero Borda’s wife, Susana, the chauffeur and another bodyguard. Police said that at least 16 bullets hit the judge.

President Belisario Betancur, his voice trembling, told reporters the justice was murdered “by organized crime’s hired assassins.”

The attack occurred less than a mile from the spot where Justice Minister Rodrigo Lara was cut down by submachine-gun fire on April 30, 1984. Betancur blamed drug traffickers then and declared war on them, taking the first action by a Colombian government to extradite suspects to the United States.

Witnesses said Baquero’s car was stopped at a busy intersection when a motorcycle with three men aboard stopped about 15 yards behind. One got off, calmly walked to within a few feet of the car, whipped a submachine gun from beneath a yellow slicker and opened fire. The assassin and his two companions fled on the motorcycle.

Baquero was on a panel of six justices that has sent 12 Colombians to the United States since late 1984 to face charges of trafficking and laundering drug money.