One of the world's most notorious drug traffickers, Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela, has arrived in the US after being extradited from Colombia.
President Alvaro Uribe turned down his final legal appeals, and Rodriguez Orejuela was put on a plane for the US.
Rodriguez Orejuela and his brother, Miguel, ran the Cali drug cartel, which is thought to have controlled 80% of the global cocaine trade in the 1990s.
He is wanted in the US on charges of smuggling and money-laundering.
Rodriguez Orejuela was escorted, handcuffed and wearing a bullet-proof jacket, by heavily armed police to a Bogota airport and handed to US Drug Enforcement Administration officers.
He arrived in Miami early on Saturday.
Long arm of law
The extradition was welcomed by US and Colombian authorities.
" Criminals will not find any sanctuary to evade justice "
"This means that the criminals will not find any sanctuary to evade justice," he added.
"Those who violate federal drug laws should never believe that drug trafficking from outside our borders puts them beyond the reach of justice," US Attorney General John Ashcroft said.
The Colombian Supreme Court is still to rule on a request to extradite Miguel.
Powerful syndicate
When Gilberto was at its helm, the Cali cartel was the richest and most powerful crime syndicate in the world, making profits of up to $8bn a year.
He was known as "the chess player" for his ability to out-wit and out-manoeuvre his opponents.
The US authorities have been trying to get their hands on the brothers for over 15 years.
When Gilberto was arrested in 1995, extraditions had been temporarily banned, so they were sentenced to prison in Colombia.
In 2002, Gilberto was released from prison early for good behaviour.
Four months later he was re-arrested, at which point the US presented its case for extradition
The extradition of 65-year-old Gilberto, once one of the richest men in the world, follows a long investigation by the US authorities.
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