09/28/2002
EDITORIAL NUMBER=0-10156

CRACKING DOWN ON NARCO TERRORISM

Carlos Castano [CAS-TAN-YO] is the leader of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, a right-wing paramilitary group. In a book entitled "My Confession," he said that his violent activities were funded to a large extent by selling illicit narcotics.

The U.S. has designated the United Self-Defense Forces as a foreign terrorist organization. On September 24^th, the U.S. Department of Justice unsealed an indictment charging Carlos Castano, Juan Carlos Sierra-Ramirez [OOH-ON CAR-LOS SEE-AIR-AH RAM-EAR-EZ], and Salvatore Mancuso [SAL-VA-TOR-A MAN-COUP-SO], with several crimes, including the transport of seventeen tons of narcotics into the U.S. and Europe. The three claim they are fighting leftist guerrillas. In fact, said U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, they are also "violent drug traffickers." The U.S. has requested the extradition of all three from Colombia for trial. If convicted, they face life imprisonment.

According to the indictment, Castano and the others directed cocaine production and distribution activities in the Magdalena Medio region, in the center of the country, and in Colombia’s northern provinces. They used violence and intimidation to maintain control over cocaine trafficking. The indictment also alleges that Castano resorted to kidnapping and threats, and that Salvatore Mancuso caused the murder of another Colombian drug trafficker.

The charges against the leaders of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia follow the indictment in March of several members of another terrorist group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. The FARC is a left-wing group described by the U.S. State Department as the most dangerous terrorist group in the Western Hemisphere.

Alvaro Uribe [AL-VAH-ROW OOH-REE-BAY], the President of Colombia, has said that Colombian authorities will pursue all who threaten the rights or security of the Colombian people. This includes illegal groups, like the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, who are involved in the drug trade. And the U.S. will continue to work closely with the Uribe Administration.