JURIST - Paper Chase: Arraignment postponed for Colombian drug kingpin

[JURIST] US District Judge Federico Moreno Tuesday postponed the arraignment of Cali drug kingpin Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela until Jan. 28, 2005, giving his attorney time to persuade the Treasury Department to allow Orejuela's assets to pay for his legal defense fees. While attorney Jose Quinon plans to defend Orejuela's plea of innocence to charges of cocaine smuggling and money laundering, he must first clarify the status of Orejuela's assets previously frozen by the Office of Foreign Assets Control. A Treasury department spokeswoman commented that the OFAC has granted licenses in similar cases where the money would be used for legitimate purposes. Orejuela, 65, was extradited to the US earlier this month and is currently jailed in Miami. JURIST's Paper Chase has coverage of the extradition here. Rodriguez and brother Miguel are accused to have produced 80 percent of the cocaine smuggled into the US during the 1990s. AP has more.

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