Rep. Salazar supports extradition of Colombian senator's brother in drug trafficking case

Cuban-born Republican congresswoman María Elvira Salazar expressed her support Thursday for the Colombian Supreme Court's decision to approve the extradition of an accused drug trafficker to the U.S. to face drug and weapons trafficking charges. 

The accused trafficker, Alvaro Fredy Córdoba Ruiz, is the brother of Colombian Sen. Piedad Córdoba, who currently faces charges by federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York.

"Piedad Cordoba and her brother are at the center of the ties that bind the agents of evil in Latin America," Salazar told ADN America. "From the Marxist guerrillas in Colombia to the drug trafficking regime in Venezuela and the cartels that commit massacres every day on the southern border of the United States. There is no separation between organized crime and socialism in Latin America."

During U.S. extradition proceedings, the court was "favorable to the extradition request formalized by the Government of the United States" against Córdoba.

The extradition order will now be sent to Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who must sign the authorization for the extradition. This is because legally, as part of the Colombian extradition process, the country's president and his Minister of Justice must sign the order before a citizen is extradited to foreign authorities.

Sen. Córdoba has historically been a strong ally of the new Colombian president although some reports suggest their relationship has deteriorated during the campaign.

Last year, [the senator] introduced Petro at a public event to two Mexican businessmen who were her brother's friends. The Mexican guests turned out to be undercover DEA agents who were engaging in a sting operation against her brother, who was arrested when he tried to sell them cocaine, according to reports.

As part of its decision, the Colombian Supreme Court bifurcated the drug trafficking charges which occurred internationally and the weapons charges which occurred within the country's jurisdiction, purportedly in connection to the FARC movement. 

Ultimately, the Court revoked the weapons charge from the extradition order, meaning that particular charge will be referred to the Colombian Attorney General's Office for investigation.

This could, according to lawyer Iván Cancino, impact the extradition process and compel Córdoba to serve the first part of his sentence in Colombia before being sent to the United States.

According to lawyers from the Kushner Law Group, the U.S. and Colombia have a legal obligation to extradite charged defendants to one another when there are potential cross-border jurisdiction issues. 

#ElDebateDefinitivo | Federico Gutiérrez le preguntó a Gustavo Petro si extraditaría a Piedad Córdoba. Esto contestó el candidato del Pacto Histórico. #DebateElTiempoSemana

EN VIVO: https://t.co/npRhwdNcsw pic.twitter.com/j4iGtmX39P

— Revista Semana (@RevistaSemana) May 24, 2022

Petro answered "yes" when asked by then-rival Federico "Fico" Gutiérrez during a presidential debate whether he would extradite Senator Córdoba if the United States made the request.