AP News, June 16th, 2007
A man labeled by the United States as one of the world's biggest drug lords was convicted Friday of smuggling more than $100 million in cocaine from Colombia into the U.S.
Manuel Felipe Salazar-Espinosa was convicted of drug importation conspiracy, cocaine distribution and money laundering conspiracy in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.
Designated by the Justice Department as one of the most powerful and dangerous drug traffickers in the world, Salazar-Espinosa faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison when he is sentenced Oct. 2. As a condition of the 55-year-old's extradition from Colombia, prosecutors agreed not to seek the maximum sentence of life in prison.
Salazar-Espinosa was accused of importing Colombian cocaine into the United States through Mexico between 2002 and 2005. His weekly shipments often weighed more than a ton, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors also told the jury he laundered $12 million to $14 million per week in narcotics proceeds during those four years.
U.S. Attorney Michael Garcia said the conviction means Salazar-Espinosa's 20-year career in drug trafficking and money laundering has come to an end.
At his weeklong trial, Salazar-Espinosa admitted through his lawyer, Linda George, that he was a drug dealer but said there was no evidence that the drugs were meant to go to the United States.
He was arrested in May 2005 after he helped hide 1.3 tons of cocaine in the arm of a crane being shipped from Panama to Mexico. Authorities said they found the drugs in about 1,300 bags in the crane in a warehouse outside Panama City two months after his arrest.
Prosecutors said much of the 5,000 kilograms _ or 11,000 pounds _ of cocaine that they believed Salazar-Espinosa shipped from Colombia to the U.S. ended up in New York. The drugs were worth more than $100 million, they said.
