Drug Lord Flouted Law, Courted Violence : U.S. Drug Agents Warned of Retaliation

Federal drug agents and their families throughout the world were warned Thursday to be “extra vigilant” to guard against possible retaliation resulting from the extradition to the United States of Colombian cocaine kingpin Carlos Lehder.

Officials throughout government praised the courage they said had been shown by Colombian President Virgilio Barco for moving against Lehder, with Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.) saying that Barco risked being “shot dead.”

Lehder, who was captured Wednesday after a gun battle between his bodyguards and Colombian soldiers at his country home in northwestern Colombia, was ordered held under extreme security measures Thursday in Tampa, Fla., for a hearing Monday in Jacksonville.

Lehder, described by U.S. officials as one of the largest suppliers of cocaine to the United States, was No. 1 on the Justice Department’s list of Colombian extradition targets.

John C. Lawn, head of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, told the Senate Judiciary Committee that he did not expect the arrest to cause a drop in the cocaine flow into the United States because Colombia’s massive cocaine exporting cartel is still in place.

But he said he expects the bold raid to encourage other “source countries,” such as Bolivia, to strengthen their stands against illicit narcotics production and trafficking.

These countries “have been looking to see if Colombia would react to intimidation” attempts by Lehder and other drug merchants, Lawn said. “The fear and intimidation factor has been so overwhelming.”

A justice minister, a member of the Supreme Court, more than two dozen other judges and several newspaper editors have been slain by drug traffickers in Colombia in recent years.

In 1985, U.S. officials said, Lehder offered $350,000 to anyone who would kill or bring him the chief of the Drug Enforcement Administration, prompting the agency to tighten security at its installations worldwide.

Lawn said that after Lehder’s arrest, he cabled all DEA offices to advise agents to be “extra cautious and extra vigilant.”

“Lehder and other traffickers have threatened retaliation for extraditions and have assassinated many Colombian officials in the past,” said Charles Redman, the State Department’s spokesman, who declined to discuss any security measures that have been taken. “We take the threats seriously.”

Drug Enforcement Administration officials said that Lehder has built a multimillion-dollar fortune from cocaine production and smuggling. At Thursday’s court proceeding, he asked for a court-appointed attorney, saying that most of his assets have been frozen by the Colombian government.

It was not immediately clear on which charges Lehder would be prosecuted. In September, 1981, he was indicted in federal court in Jacksonville on multiple counts of importing cocaine into the United States, conspiracy and engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise.

He also was indicted in federal court in Miami last November and charged, along with eight other defendants, with 39 counts of narcotics-related offenses committed in the course of racketeering activities.

With Lehder’s extradition, more details about the raid became available Thursday from U.S. officials. Some federal law enforcement sources said that the Colombian military found Lehder’s country home and placed it under surveillance two weeks ago.

One source said the raid was delayed until the early morning after “a big cocaine and pot party at the ranch.” One Colombian officer was wounded during the raid, in which Lehder and 14 of his guards were apprehended, Lawn said.

Lehder, flown back to the United States in a Drug Enforcement Administration jet, “was so stoned he slept most of the way back,” one source said. When he did awaken, one of three DEA agents aboard the plane asked in Spanish whether he would like a cigarette.

“No, I only smoke marijuana,” Lehder responded, according to law enforcement sources.

Lehder, according to the DEA, is associated with Pablo Escobar, Jorge Ochoa and Fabio Ochoa in the “Medellin cartel,” named for the major cocaine organization based in Medellin, Colombia.

The United States first sought his extradition Aug. 22, 1983, and then President Belisario Betancur signed the extradition papers in June, 1984, according to the DEA.