Head of Colombia’s Cali Cartel Offers to Turn Himself In

The alleged leader of Colombia’s second-largest cocaine cartel has offered to turn himself in, just as the government weighs how to respond to a similar peace offer from the boss of the No. 1 cartel.

The latest offer from the traffickers in Colombia’s five-month-old drug war came from Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela, the reputed chief of the Cali cartel.

In a letter to the owners of the Bogota daily El Tiempo, published as a front-page story Wednesday, Rodriguez Orejuela said he would be prepared to face an extradition request from the United States but that the merits of the U.S. request would have to be judged under Colombian law.

In the last five months, the 13 Colombians extradited to the United States were sent without judicial review, something feared by the traffickers.

Earlier this month, the Medellin cartel, the country’s largest, said it was willing to stop its cocaine business, give up hostages it had kidnaped the last two months and stop all terrorism. The communique did not specify what the traffickers wanted in return.