- BOGOTA, Colombia (Reuters)
- A Colombian judge on Thursday ordered the immediate release from prison
of one of the country's most notorious drug lords, former Cali cocaine
cartel boss Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela, despite strenuous government efforts
to keep him behind bars.
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- Judge Luz Angela Moncada said there was no legal barrier
to Rodriguez Orejuela's being released for good behavior after having served
just seven years of a 15-year prison sentence.
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- Once known as the Chess Player for his ability to outwit
authorities, Rodriguez Orejuela, 63, was expected to exit the penitentiary
later on Thursday under heavy police guard.
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- The imminent release of the former cocaine king angered
the Colombian government, which considers the 1995 arrests of him and his
brother Miguel as one the as one of the biggest triumphs in the U.S.-backed
war on drugs.
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- The government has started an investigation for breach
of duty into the judge who last week said that Gilberto and his brother
Miguel were eligible for early release, partly for good behavior.
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- A furious President Alvaro Uribe told officials to scour
files for reasons to keep the two behind bars and has already managed to
thwart Miguel's scheduled release, getting him sentenced to an additional
four years' prison for bribing a judge.
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- The Supreme Court accused the government of interfering
with the judicial system.
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- The Rodriguez Orejuela duo ruled an underground empire
once thought to have controlled 80 percent of the world supply of cocaine.
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- The government reacted with anger to the decision to
let Gilberto go.
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- "It's terrible, terrible, terrible. This is a moment
of mourning, of pain for the image of the nation, for the justice system
of Colombia," said Justice and Interior Minister Fernando Londono.
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- The Rodriguez Orejuela brothers and their Cali cartel
were rivals of late drug lord Pablo Escobar.
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- The business has since splintered and today's "mini
drug cartels" keep a lower profile than Escobar, who launched a violent
campaign of car bombs and killings that brought this Andean nation to its
knees in the 1990s.
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