Colombian court calls drug lord to appear

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BOGOTA, March 20 (UPI) -- Colombian drug lord Juan Carlos Sierra Ramierz has been called before a court in Colombia to answer charges of drug trafficking, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors told Colombia Reports the action comes less than a week after Sierra, known as "El Tuso," was released from a federal prison in the United States.

"El Tuso" was one of 14 alleged leaders of the paramilitary group AUC who were extradited to the United States in May 2008.

The decision to take "El Tuso" to court in Colombia came after the country's unit of Justice and Peace presented witnesses that tied him to drug shipments seized in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans by international authorities.

At a hearing, "El Tuso" admitted maintaining contracts with AUC leaders and other paramilitary members in order to facilitate drug trafficking routes.