In the United States, the judiciary of this country already has the ace up its sleeve in the face of the trial against the brother of the famous Senator Piedad Córdoba, Álvaro Córdoba, who was extradited for drug offenses human trafficking, but who insisted once and for all said it was a trap. A few days ago Libya landed Amanda Palacio, also a prisoner of extradition, who was arrested as an accomplice alongside Álvaro and it will be she who will turn on the fan.
SEMANA reveals the previously unreleased story behind the drug trafficking operation and the untold details of this drug trafficking trial that has Álvaro Córdoba behind bars in a US prison today.
A few days ago, Palacio left her cell in El Buen Pastor prison, accompanied by two others Women flying to the United States on a DEA plane. But who is this woman who has Álvaro Córdoba on the ropes and would become his executioner?
Extradition of Álvaro Córdoba, brother of Senator Piedad Córdoba. – Photo: DijinBefore leaving Colombia, Palacio was clear about his goal: to work with that country’s judicial system, to tell everything he knows, and thus achieve a successful hearing of his sentence. What is known is that the agreement has already started in the United States, so the process can proceed quickly. The obligation: bring charges, take responsibility and pave the way to become the key witness in this case.
The testimony of this woman is crucial, with it she tries to refute the thesis that it was a trap but, on the contrary, an open and systematic drug trade in which allegedly Álvaro Córdoba and she They were the intermediaries between the Mexican drug cartels and the late FARC dissident leader Gentil Duarte, who was the supplier of the cocaine.
What is known about this woman, who worked in a travel agency in Medellín, is that she was contacted to be involved in this drug deal and her main objective was to “do illegal business with Álvaro Córdoba” by allegedly Córdobas The FARC used connections to the dissidents to gain access to the drugs that the powerful Gentil Duarte was supposed to send to the drug lords.
The importance of this 44-year-old woman as a witness, who was moving discreetly and was arrested next to Álvaro Córdoba, is clear and the US authorities know this because she was the one who coordinated their operations and knows the service in detail.
Libya Amanda Palacio did not have an easy time getting to Álvaro Córdoba and Gentil Duarte through this route, she contacted a friend, a woman who is very close to the Córdoba Ruiz family, and thus gained confidence and fully immersed herself in the criminal Business.
Exactly, Historical Compact Senator Piedad Córdoba had pointed out this problem in SEMANA when she pointed out that “apparently this captivity has taken place. There was one person who was very close to us, she is a woman from the Liberal Party who was involved in politics with me and my brother for many years. I sent his two children to this person to study medicine in Cuba on scholarships. She is the one who offers to contact my brother and she was the one who put him to this other lady and to these Mexicans.”
This is precisely Piedad Córdoba’s argument in defending her brother’s innocence and insisting that his capture, surveillance and extradition were in fact part of a trap set against him by the United States justice system.
But nonetheless, it is also the US judiciary’s argument to confirm that there was a criminal arrangement in which Álvaro Córdoba was a key link in trading with the Mexican cartels. So what Libya tells Amanda Palacios is crucial, she is a direct witness of how it worked because she knew it inside out and was part of the organization that allegedly served as a broker in the drug trade.
In addition to their testimonies, they have apprehensions, tracings and photos that served as support to a Southern District court in New York ordering the arrests of Cordoba and Palacio for extradition purposes.
According to the indictment, the footage was taken legally by DEA agents who set up a trap, posing as drug dealers, and taped her closing a store in the city of Medellín.
Undercover agent Matthew S. Passmore, one of those who testified in that country’s courts, confirmed that they had an agreement with Córdoba and its partners to obtain cocaine in Colombia and Venezuela, and that the alkaloid made its way to Central America would take. go to the US.
They were arrested more than a year ago in a prestigious sector of El Poblado in Medellín, according to the investigation, which took place minutes after leaving an apartment where evidence said they were talking and breaking up a cocaine trafficking deal.
The arrest warrants for Álvaro Córdoba, Álvaro Alonso Jaramillo and Libia Amanda Palacio have been executed by the police, which granted an Interpol request. They are requested by a court for the Southern District of New York. – Photo: State PolicePalacio could face a sentence of between five and 10 years for the crime of drug trafficking, which is precisely why he is negotiating to turn on the fan and manage to meet the lowest sentence.
SEMANA spoke to attorney and human rights defender Alex Morales, who represented Palacio in Colombia, and said that “they had a cheap extradition concept and it was perfected about 15 days ago. Therefore, your defense in the United States will help you make the decision that favors you in legal engineering, cooperation with the judiciary is always the best decision in these cases. Even the biggest bosses have made it.”
Attorney Morales confirmed that Palacios was linked to DEA officers in the sale and purchase of drugs and that these were the tests to send them to the United States, the same ones used on Álvaro Córdoba. However, in view of the extradition, he points out that “as proposed, it is necessary to assess the guarantees that the Colombians have and whether it is really necessary to transfer a compatriot to a foreign country, or whether he can approach virtually and administer justice without impunity”.
They are two sides of the coin in the same alleged criminal business. While Libya Amanda Palacios will accept the charges, turn on the fan and pursue legal claims in the United States, Álvaro Córdoba has already stated that he will defend his innocence as he was the victim of a trap. The final word will be dictated by the Court of the Southern District of New York.