Colombian warlords plead guilty to US drug charges

MIAMI, July 29 (Reuters) - Two former Colombian paramilitary leaders pleaded guilty on Tuesday to a drug trafficking charge in Florida, prosecutors said.

Ramiro Vanoy Murillo and Francisco Javier Zuluaga Lindo were among 14 ex-paramilitary warlords extradited to the United States in May after authorities said they had violated terms of a peace deal with the Colombian government.

Among them were some of the most feared militia bosses accused of killing thousands of people in the bloodier days of the four-decade Colombian conflict.

Vanoy Murillo and Zuluaga Lindo, charged with conspiring to import tons of cocaine, face statutory sentences of 10 years to life in prison, but the United States gave Colombia assurances that it would not seek life terms for either.

Sentencing was scheduled for Oct. 9.

Prosecutors said the men were members of one of the world's largest and most powerful drug-trafficking organizations.

The far-right paramilitaries were originally organized by wealthy landowners to defend against rebels but the militias soon controlled large parts of Colombia and massacred civilians, drove peasants from their land and smuggled cocaine.

The militia leaders began surrendering under a 2003 deal with President Alvaro Uribe that gave them short jail terms in exchange for confessing to crimes and compensating victims.

But officials said the warlords violated the accord by keeping criminal gangs going from their jail cells or failing to cooperate with authorities and hand over illicit gains to victims. (Reporting by Jim Loney)