No. 2 Man in Medellin Cartel Surrenders

The No. 2 man in the Medellin cocaine cartel surrendered Tuesday in exchange for the government’s promise not to extradite him to the United States, where he is wanted on drug charges.

Jorge Luis Ochoa, 41, turned himself in at Caldas, 10 miles south of Medellin, and was jailed in the Medellin suburb of Itagui, court officials said.

He could face up to 30 years in prison, but authorities have promised to be lenient with dealers who turn themselves in.

“I turned myself in because I believe in justice and the Colombian government,” local television quoted Ochoa as saying.

Ochoa appeared in a soundless video released by his family and shown on the evening television news. He looked as though he had gained weight since 1987, the last time he was arrested and publicly photographed.

Ochoa’s younger brother, Fabio, also a cartel leader, surrendered Dec. 19. Five other minor drug traffickers have surrendered since the government first offered its partial amnesty Sept. 5.

“This demonstrates that the policy of surrendering to the law offered by the government to drug traffickers is having good results,” said Rafael Pardo, presidential adviser on internal security.

Under the offer made by President Cesar Gaviria, smugglers who surrender and confess to at least one crime are assured they will not be extradited to the United States. They are also promised leniency in exchange for cooperation.

Pablo Escobar Gaviria, 43, the top cartel leader, is still a fugitive. He and an estimated 300 other traffickers have been pressing the government to make further concessions before they surrender.

President Gaviria offered the partial amnesty to end a bloody confrontation between the drug dealers and the government that has left at least 550 people dead.

The army said Tuesday it had captured a man accused of hiring assassins to kill police officials in Medellin. It said Denis Munoz, captured in Antioquia province, had paid $3,500 per officer to the teen-age gunmen. The drug cartel admitted killing 250 police officers in Medellin last year.

The government of former President Virgilio Barco declared war on the cocaine bosses in August, 1989, after they assassinated a leading presidential candidate, Sen. Luis Carlos Galan. President Gaviria was Galan’s campaign manager.

Critics charge that President Gaviria’s concessions to drug dealers are appeasement and insult the memory of Colombians killed by traffickers.

The Medellin cartel last year began pressuring the government by kidnaping prominent journalists. It is currently holding five journalists, including two of Galan’s in-laws and Diana Turbay, daughter of ex-President Julio Cesar Turbay.