- Title: Colombia: Military crackdown on drugs traffickers and their property
- Date: 23rd August 1989
- Summary: SVS/CUS INTERIOR VIEWS OF HACIENDA OF GONZALO RODRIGUEZ GACHA (6 SHOTS)
- Embargoed: 7th September 1989 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: VARIOUS LOCATIONS, COLOMBIA
- Country: Colombia
- Reuters ID: LVA8DG856OIPP7BYFAYLZKFI0M11
- Story Text: The Colombian government, infuriated by last week's spate of murders of anti-drugs campaigners, intensified its crackdown against narcotics traffickers on Tuesday.
President Virgilio Barco decreed that property owned by members of the so-called "Medellin Cartel" would be confiscated. In the town of Pacha, valuable miniature horses on a luxurious ranch owned by Gonzalo Rodriguez Gacha were impounded by army units.
On another estate, owned by reputed drugs billionaire Pablo Escobar Gaviria, a private zoo with hundreds of rare animals was found. The entrance to the estate was decorated with the first private aircraft used by Escobar to smuggle cocaine shipments.
Earlier this week, Colombian authorities announced the arrest of Eduardo Martinez Romero, sought by the United States Justice Department as the man responsible for finance in the Medellin Cartel.Martinez is the subject of an indictment handed down in Atlanta, Georgia.
The current clampdown on drugs traffickers by the Colombian government was welcomed by US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher, who confirmed that Martinez had been charged in Atlanta. Attorney-General Richard Thornburgh told reporters on Tuesday that his department had initiated discussions with the Colombian authorities "to determine their needs" in fighting the drugs cartels.
But Colombia s Foreign Minister Julio Londona said President Barco had told Washington that US troops were not needed to pursue the private militias of the drugs barons. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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