2 Colombians convicted in cocaine smuggling plot

[Judi Lynn]

2 Colombians convicted in cocaine smuggling plot
The Associated Press
Thursday, December 9, 2010; 6:27 PM

WASHINGTON -- Two alleged narcotics traffickers aligned with a right-wing paramilitary terrorist organization in Colombia have been convicted of conspiring to import multi-ton quantities of cocaine into the United States.

Christian Fernando Borda and Alvaro Alvaran-Velez were extradited from Colombia a year ago and were convicted by a federal jury Thursday.

The Justice Department said Borda led an organization that obtained cocaine from paramilitary groups and smuggled in more than 1,500 tons in drums of palm oil from Colombia in 2005, with additional shipments in 2005 and 2006. The department said Alvaran-Velez, an associate of Borda, facilitated cocaine shipments.

They were allied with Autodefenses Unidas de Colombia, an umbrella group for far-right paramilitary groups that has been designated by the State Department as a foreign terrorist organization.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/09/AR2010120905261.html