MIAMI, Nov. 24 (UPI) -- Federal authorities in Miami are making preparations to bring two brothers from Colombia to Miami on charges of running the infamous Cali drug cartel.
Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela and Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela are charged in an indictment with conspiracy to import and distribute cocaine, to launder money and to obstruct justice.
The indictment also seeks $2.1 billion in drug money and assets, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported Wednesday.
Experts say the prosecution is largely symbolic because the Cali cartel is no longer in operation. It has been replaced by as many as 300 "baby cartels."
Authorities said the Cali cartel operated by buying government inaction while cloaking themselves in respectability. The earlier Medellin cartel was more violent, fighting the Colombian government with murders, kidnappings and bombings.
No trial date has been set, and the timing of the extraditions has not been disclosed for security reasons.
Prosecutors said it will be one of the biggest drug and money laundering cases ever prosecuted in federal court in Miami.
