Colombian Raids Prompt Alleged Cali Cartel Heir to Surrender

A two-day crackdown by Colombia’s antinarcotics squad netted a big catch for police determined to quash a new generation of Cali drug lords: Juan Carlos Ramirez, the 32-year-old alleged heir to the six leaders of the cartel who were imprisoned last year, turned himself in to Colombian police Friday morning.

Dressed elegantly in a dark gray suit, red tie and sunglasses and accompanied by his lawyer, the suspected cocaine trafficker known as “Chupeta,” or “Lollipop,” surrendered to police and agreed to cooperate with drug investigations in return for leniency.

During the previous 48 hours, 500 law enforcement officials conducted 54 raids on 24 suspected Cali front companies, ranches and houses, many of which are believed to belong to Ramirez.

Police and soldiers confiscated cars, motorcycles, computers and evidence of cartel operations that will be used in court against suspected drug dealers, authorities said. No drugs or weapons were found, they said.

Ramirez heads a new group that commands 200 drug traffickers, and he is among the wealthiest of the new drug lords, according to police.

“He is an important drug leader and money launderer, with drug connections in Europe and the United States and a lot of money,” said Col. Benjamin Nunez, commander of antinarcotics police in Cali.

During a brief statement to reporters, Ramirez said he would give authorities information about his contacts in return for a lighter sentence.

The Colombian government has been severely criticized by U.S. authorities for being too lenient with suspected drug dealers who surrender.

A former lieutenant of Cali bosses Gilberto and Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela, Ramirez had claimed a leadership role since the capture and surrender of the syndicate’s top bosses, according to intelligence authorities.

Authorities believe that, after the arrests of six of the cartel’s seven leaders nearly destroyed the organization--which until last summer controlled 80% of the world’s cocaine exports and the largest share of heroin production outside Asia--Ramirez helped it recuperate its export capacity.

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Police say Ramirez is a close collaborator of Helmer Herrera, the only remaining original cartel leader still at large.

Herrera, Ramirez and Juan Carlos Ortiz took over cartel operations, forging alliances with guerrillas and paramilitary organizations, according to intelligence sources.

Ortiz, known as “Cuchillo,” or “Knife,” is a violent participant in the heroin trade who has been linked to the 1989-1991 chain-saw murders of 107 peasants near Cali, police said. The peasants were suspected of sympathizing with guerrillas opposed to the drug trade, police said.

A warrant for Ortiz’s arrest was issued Feb. 20, when police started a concerted effort to crack down on the Cali cartel heirs.

“The antinarcotics forces are attacking with all their might to finish off the cartel,” Nunez said.

The government began a manhunt for new Cali leaders to prove its “national commitment” to fight drugs when it became clear that the United States was not going to certify that Colombia was a cooperative partner in antinarcotics operations.

The March 1 decertification has already cost Colombia millions of dollars in foreign aid not related to drug enforcement, as well as export-import bank guarantees crucial to exporters here.

The government is eager to fend off further sanctions that the Clinton administration could now impose, costing exporters here tens of millions of dollars in tariff reductions.

However, some of the antinarcotics efforts are raising eyebrows.

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According to intelligence sources, new evidence indicates that the original cartel’s No. 3 boss, Jose Santacruz Londono, was captured, tortured and then executed in cold blood, rather than killed in a shootout in Medellin on March 5, as police claim.

Santacruz Londono had humiliated the government by walking out of a maximum security prison in January with the help of seven prison guards.

While police cracked down on drug dealers, Colombia’s special prosecutor formally requested indictments against three Cabinet ministers suspected of receiving narcotics funds used to finance President Ernesto Samper’s 1994 election campaign.