Colombia Arrests 2 More Suspects Wanted in U.S.

The government announced Thursday the arrest of two men wanted in the United States as cocaine traffickers and said they are in a high-security prison awaiting extradition.

Gen. Miguel Maza Marquez, head of the Administrative Security Department and the man in charge of Colombia’s anti-drug war, earlier described one of them, Bernardo Pelaez Roldan, as among the major drug figures in the Medellin cartel.

Maza said that Pelaez Roldan “was much bigger” than Eduardo Martinez Romero, who was flown to Atlanta Sept. 6. Martinez is charged with money laundering for the Medellin cartel, one of the largest cocaine organizations.

Pelaez Roldan and Guillermo Bueno Delgado were paraded before news photographers Thursday at the Administrative Security Department, Colombia’s equivalent of the FBI, where officials said they had been held since their arrests this week.

A department communique said Pelaez Roldan will be extradited to Detroit, where he is wanted for “conspiracy and distribution of cocaine.” He was not, however, on the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s list of the 12 most-wanted Colombian traffickers.