MIAMI, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- The alleged founder of the Colombian drug cartel that once provided 80 percent of U.S. cocaine will plead innocent to drug charges in Miami.
Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela, 65, made his first appearance in federal court Monday and was ordered held without bond. He will next appear at an arraignment Dec. 27, The Miami Herald reported Tuesday. His attorney, Jose Quinon, said he would plead innocent.
Orejuela is charged with conspiring to smuggle 200,000 kilos of cocaine into the Untied States after founding the Cali cartel.
He is also charged with conspiring to obstruct justice by killing witnesses.
"It simply doesn't get any bigger than this," said U.S. Attorney Marcos Jimenez. "This is the biggest extradition this office has ever had and possibly this country has ever had."
Orejuela was flown out of Bogota Friday night in a Drug Enforcement Administration plane. He was taken to the Guantanamo Naval Base in Cuba where he switched planes and was flown to Miami.
