2 Colombian Drug Suspects Extradited to U.S.

Two drug suspects facing federal indictments in the United States were extradited from Colombia on Saturday as part of a continuing crackdown on drug trafficking in the South American nation, authorities said.

The U.S. Marshals Service took the pair into custody in Bogota, Colombia, late Friday and transported them by jet to Miami early Saturday. Their extraditions bring to eight the number of Colombian drug suspects brought to the United States since August.

Manuel Palma, 49, a Colombian native, was named in a Miami indictment issued in 1987, charging him with drug trafficking and money laundering, a statement from the service said.

Robert James Sokol, 29, was flown to Greensboro, N. C., to face a narcotics conspiracy indictment issued in 1984, the service said. He was captured on Oct. 20.

Palma, who also was captured on Oct. 20, was extradited despite his lawyers’ claims that he was not the same man sought by U.S. authorities, citing differences in height and coloring between Palma and the fugitive described by police.

Saturday marked three months since the government began its all-out offensive on the drug lords after the Mafia-linked assassinations of judges, police officials and leading presidential candidate Sen. Luis Carlos Galan.

President Virgilio Barco re-established extradition of wanted drug traffickers on Aug. 18.

Authorities have confiscated drug traffickers’ properties and arrested thousands of suspects.

The drug cartels responded to the crackdown with a campaign of violence that has led to widespread bombings and attacks on government officials and journalists.

So far, none of the people extradited to the United States have been among the dozen major traffickers sought by federal officials.