Americans in Colombia Fear Reprisals for Lehder’s Capture

Americans kept their children home from school, canceled parties and hired bodyguards Friday in fear of reprisals because of the extradition of drug kingpin Carlos Lehder to the United States for trial.

Some U.S. citizens, citing drug traffickers’ threats to kill five Americans for every Colombian extradited, said they were sending their families out of the country.

Police, meanwhile, announced the arrest of three more men whose extradition is sought by the United States.

Reporters contacted 50 American families as a wave of apprehension ran through the U.S. community. There are an estimated 5,000 Americans in Colombia.

Reluctant to Comment

Government officials and foreign diplomats here have been extremely reluctant to comment on the arrest and are unwilling to give their names for publication, for fears of reprisals.

“We are aware of the danger of reprisals. We are careful at all times, and we have tightened security mechanisms,” a U.S. Embassy spokesman said.

The prevailing fear resembled the climate after a bomb exploded beside the U.S. Embassy in November, 1984. The embassy said drug traffickers planted the bomb and that they threatened to kill five Americans for every Colombian extradited.

The bomb killed a Colombian woman and seriously injured six people.

Thirteen Colombians have been extradited on drug charges to the United States in the last 2 1/2 years, including Lehder, captured Wednesday and immediately sent to Florida. The United States has asked for the extradition of 109 Colombians on drug charges.

Member of Cartel

Lehder is worth about $800 million and is a member of what Colombian and U.S. authorities describe as the “Medellin cartel,” which supplies about 75% of the cocaine smuggled into the United States.

A 37-year-old self-proclaimed devotee of Adolf Hitler, Lehder was being held pending a hearing Monday in Jacksonville, Fla. Charges in Jacksonville include conspiracy, importing cocaine, possession with intent to distribute the drug and racketeering.

Colombian security forces arrested three men Thursday in the northwestern town of Valledupar and discovered a cache of what officials said was ether and other chemicals used to process cocaine from a paste into refined white powder.

Authorities identified the three as Alvaro Donado Suarez, his brother Rodolfo and Carlos Gomez.

Police said Donado was being held in a Bogota jail pending a Justice Ministry decision whether to send him to a court in Palm Beach, Fla.

Extra Troops Evident

Fear of reprisals against Colombian officials was also evident, as extra troops with submachine guns guarded government buildings, and motorcycle police escorted officials to and from their offices.

The morning daily El Tiempo, of Bogota, said the police major responsible for Lehder’s capture has been transferred from Medellin, the northwestern city where most of the major traffickers are based. Lehder, who has been in hiding for two years, was arrested along with 14 of his bodyguards after a gunfight with police at a mansion outside Medellin.

Colombia’s drug traffickers have often taken brutal action against anyone who tried to stop them.

Justice Minister Rodrigo Lara was killed by submachine-gun fire April 30, 1984. At the time, he was advocating a vigorous campaign against drugs.