The Panamanian authorities have sent an alleged leader of a Colombian drug cartel to face trafficking and money-laundering charges in the United States.

Jose Castrillon Henao was arrested in Panama two years ago, accused of running a cocaine ring supplying the US and Europe.

His lawyer told the BBC that his client had been moved illegally.

Panama's president, Ernesto Perez Balladares, admitted in 1996 that his electoral campaign two years earlier had received more than fifty thousand dollars from a company linked to Mr Castrillon.