Local News in Brief : Colombia Drug Figure Held
Jorge Ivan Alvarez-Botero, a reputed associate of accused Colombian drug lord Carlos Lehder, was arrested in Los Angeles on a Florida warrant for drug trafficking and racketeering, authorities said Friday.
Alvarez-Botero, 31, a Colombian national, was arrested by sheriff’s deputies Thursday and was awaiting extradition to Florida, the Florida Office of Statewide Prosecution said.
The arrest stemmed from an indictment returned Jan. 21 in Volusia County, Fla., by that state’s grand jury for racketeering, charging him with conspiracy and trafficking in excess of 400 grams of cocaine.
Officials said the charges involve a smuggling operation that brought 600 pounds of cocaine into Opa-locka, near Miami, in May and June, 1985, and a September, 1985, operation in Knoxville, Tenn.
Federal authorities say Alvarez-Botero is a member of the so-called Medellin cocaine cartel, the drug smuggling network believed to be responsible for 80% of the cocaine reaching the United States.
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