Manhattan U.S. Attorney Announces Extradition of Leader of International Drug-Trafficking...

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Announces Extradition of Leader of International
Drug-Trafficking and Money Laundering Organization

NEW YORK, Sept. 3 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Preet Bharara, the U.S. Attorney
for the Southern District of New York, and Michele M. Leonhart, the Acting
Administrator of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), announced the
arrival today of Jesus Eduardo Valencia-Arbelaez, aka "Padre," aka "Pat," who
was extradited from Romania this morning to face cocaine trafficking and money
laundering charges in the Southern District of New York.

According to the superseding indictment filed on July 7, 2009, and other filed
court documents:

Valencia-Arbelaez was a leader of a sophisticated international cocaine
trafficking organization (the Organization) based in Colombia and Venezuela
that operated worldwide, including in Bolivia, Spain, Holland, Sierra Leone,
Guinea Conakry, Mauritania, Mali, Cyprus, and the United States. Beginning in
September 2007, members of the Organization sought to purchase a cargo
airplane for the purpose of transporting metric tons of cocaine from Venezuela
to West Africa. Between September 2007 and March 2009, Manuel
Silva-Jaramillo, a member of the Organization arrested earlier this year,
conducted meetings in connection with the Organization's efforts to acquire
the airplane in, among other places, Madrid, New York and Virginia.
Silva-Jaramillo arranged to finance the purchase of the airplane through a
corporation based in Cyprus and to register it in Sierra Leone.

In a meeting in Europe in October 2007, Silva-Jaramillo delivered more than
1.25 million Euros in cash -- drug proceeds that represented a partial payment
towards the airplane -- which he instructed were to be wire-transferred to
different bank accounts in the United States. During one of these meetings
which was recorded, Silva-Jaramillo stated that the Organization had between
30 and 60 million Euros in Spain that it needed to launder.

In November 2008, Valencia-Arbelaez, who identified himself as a leader of the
Organization, met in Madrid with a DEA confidential source who was assisting
Silva-Jaramillo with the acquisition of the airplane. During this meeting,
Valencia-Arbelaez stated that the Organization enjoyed land support and a
private military airfield in Guinea Conakry, located in West Africa, where the
Organization could deliver cocaine shipments originating from Venezuela.
Valencia-Arbelaez also indicated that although he understood the airplane to
be capable of carrying seven tons of cocaine at a time, the Organization
wanted to start with shipments of two to three tons.

In January 2009, Valencia-Arbelaez met again with the confidential source in
Europe. Among other things, Valencia-Arbelaez stated that the Organization was
investigating the possibility of flying shipments of cocaine from Bolivia to
West Africa. On the following day, Valencia-Arbelaez arranged the delivery of
250,000 Euros in cash to the confidential source, which represented an
additional payment toward the purchase of the airplane.

On June 10, 2009, Valencia-Arbelaez traveled to Bucharest, Romania, to attend
a meeting concerning the Organization's establishment of a new base of
operations. Acting on a provisional arrest request from the United States,
Romanian law enforcement authorities arrested Valencia-Arbelaez in Bucharest,
whereupon he was detained pending extradition to New York. Valencia-Arbelaez
arrived in the United States this morning and will be presented later today
before United States District Judge Robert P. Patterson.

Valencia-Arbelaez is the fifth member of the Organization to have been
arrested and brought to the United States to face narcotics conspiracy
charges. In April 2009, Geraldo Quintana-Perez, aka "El Viejo," aka "German
Quintero," and Harvey Steven Perez, aka "Miguel," were transferred from Sierra
Leone to the United States, marking the first ever such transfer of defendants
between the two countries. In June 2009, Javier Caro, aka "William Zabieh,"
aka "El Ingeniero," aka "Javier Gonzalez," was transferred to U.S. custody
from the Government of Togo. Also in June 2009, Silva-Jaramillo was arrested
following a visit to the Dominican Republic.

Valencia-Arbelaez, 43, and Silva-Jaramillo, 55, are both charged with
conspiring to distribute at least five kilograms of cocaine in the United
States; conspiring to import at least five kilograms of cocaine into the
United States; and conspiring to launder narcotics proceeds. If convicted,
Valencia-Arbelaez and Silva-Jaramillo each face life in prison for the drug
charges and 20 years in prison for the money laundering charge. The remaining
three defendants -- Quintana-Perez, Perez and Caro -- are charged with
conspiring to distribute cocaine in the United States.

The arrest and extradition of Valencia-Arbelaez were the result of the close
cooperative efforts of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of
New York, the DEA, the Department of State, the U.S. Department of Justice
Office of International Affairs, the Romanian National Police, and the Danish
National Police.

"Valencia-Arbelaez is charged with participating in a highly sophisticated
drug-trafficking network whose criminal activities spanned the globe," said
U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara. "Whether operating in Latin America, West
Africa, Europe, or the United States, his Organization distributed vast
quantities of cocaine and generated millions of dollars worth of illicit
proceeds. Valencia-Arbelaez's extradition today reflects the remarkable
successes that cooperation between the United States and its partners can
produce in our joint efforts to combat drug-trafficking and money-laundering
crimes. We will bring drug kingpins to justice wherever in the world they may
be found."

"Today's extradition, combined with preceding indictments and arrests, have
put Valencia-Arbelaez and his co-conspirators out of business and behind
bars," said Michele M. Leonhart, Acting Administrator of the DEA. "Working
closely with our partners in countries across four continents, most notably
Romania, Denmark, Spain, Sierra Leone, and Togo, this sophisticated
international criminal and his organization have been targeted successfully,
and their plots to conduct cocaine flights from Venezuela, Bolivia, and
elsewhere in Latin America to West Africa effectively disrupted."

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rebecca M. Ricigliano, Brendan R. Mcguire and Anjan
Sahni are in charge of the prosecution, which is being handled by the
International Narcotics Trafficking Unit.

The charges contained in the indictment are merely accusations and the
defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

SOURCE U.S. Department of Justice

Yusill Scribner, Rebekah Carmichael, or Janice Oh +1- 212-637-2600, all of the
Office of United States Attorney Preet Bharara Southern District of New York