BOGOTA, April 6 (UPI) -- Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said Wednesday he will extradite alleged drug lord Walid Makled Garcia to Venezuela and not to the United States.
Santos told Univision news network he plans to extradite the accused Venezuelan drug trafficker in a request for Venezuela's extradition of two other accused drug lords.
"I promised [Venezuelan] President [Hugo] Chavez that if the law said this man should be extradited to Venezuela, I would extradite him to Venezuela. I am asking Venezuela [to extradite] two big drug lords," Santos said.
Colombia's Supreme Court authorized Makled's extradition in March, but a decision has been pending Santos' final approval, Colombia Reports said.
The Colombian government decided to extradite Makled to Venezuela because it was the first to request extradition and because the charges he faces there are more serious than charges in the United States.
Makled is accused by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration of cooperating with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia to distribute cocaine to the United States.
He is wanted on drug-trafficking charges and the murder of a journalist and a Colombian narco-trafficker in the United States.
