The Extraditables
The Extraditables was an organization created by Colombian drug lords in the early 1980s.[2][1] Their motto was: "We prefer a grave in Colombia to a prison in the United States."[2][1][3]
| Founded | 1980s |
|---|---|
| Founding location | Colombia |
| Years active | 1980s-1990s |
| Territory | Colombia |
| Ethnicity | Colombian |
| Criminal activities | Murder, assassination, intimidation, corruption, terrorism, bombing, kidnapping, bribery[1] |
| Allies | Medellín Cartel and associates |
| Rivals | Colombian government American government Search Bloc |
The aim of the group was to intimidate the Colombian government into banning extradition at the constitutional level (Colombia had a treaty of extradition with the United States) and they wanted to manipulate Colombian society into supporting their goal. Initially, the group simply published newspaper adverts in which they defended their position, and influenced political parties to speak in favour of their goals. However, over time their actions escalated into a war between the state and the drug cartel, with violent acts committed against politicians and members of law enforcement.[1]
Its members were largely drawn from the Medellín Cartel and others linked to the drug trafficking racket. Its principal leaders were:
- Pablo Escobar Gaviria,[1] who was killed in 1993 on the roof of a house in Medellin.
- Gonzalo Rodríguez Gacha, who was killed by Colombian military personnel by a bullet to the face in 1989.
- Fabio Ochoa Vásquez, sentenced to 30 years in federal prison in the United States.
References
- Killing Pablo cnn.com, 25 May 2003
- Breaking out is hard to do economist.com, from 16 July 2015
- Should drug lord Guzman have been extradited to the US? bbc.co.uk, date 13 July 2015