[Ppnews] FARC - Colombian Woman Convicted on Drug Charge

[Political Prisoner News]

Colombian Rebel Convicted on Drug Charge
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6429031,00.html

Wednesday February 21, 2007 3:31 AM

WASHINGTON (AP) - A Colombian woman was found guilty Tuesday of 
participating in an operation to smuggle tons of cocaine to the United States.

Authorities say her case showed the main rebel group in Colombia is 
deeply involved in illegal drugs.

Nayibe Rojas, known in the Colombian rebel movement as ``Sonia,'' was 
convicted by a jury of conspiracy to import and-or distribute 11 
pounds or more of cocaine. The charge carries a mandatory sentence of 
at least 10 years.

Two male co-defendants were convicted of the same charge, but they 
have not been implicated by authorities, as Rojas was, in connection 
with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.

Prosecutors accused Rojas of helping export more than 220 tons of 
cocaine to the United States and Europe since 1994, earning millions 
of dollars for the FARC.

``Today's convictions represent a significant victory against the 
FARC, one of the most dangerous narcoterrorist organizations 
operating in Colombia,'' Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty said in 
a statement.

District Judge James Robertson set a May 7 date for sentencing Rojas 
in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Under 
current sentencing guidelines, she and the men, Jose Antonio Selis 
and Juan Diego Giraldo, could be sentenced to 30 years in prison, 
said Elita Amato, the men's attorney.

Rojas was extradited in March 2005, under a treaty between the United 
States and Colombia.

The guilty verdict for Rojas is a victory for the United States and 
Colombia, which have recently stepped up a campaign to portray the 
FARC, which is on the U.S. list of ``foreign terrorist 
organizations'' as a drug-trafficking cartel. In March 2005, the 
United States announced drug indictments against 50 FARC leaders and 
offered rewards totaling $77.5 million for their capture.

FARC leaders insist that rather than produce and sell cocaine, they 
levy taxes on farmers of coca, the raw material used in the 
production of cocaine, and the drug-traffickers.

---

Associated Press writer Toby Muse contributed to this report from 
Bogota, Colombia.


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