Venezuela interest in MANUEL SILVA-JARAMILLO,

CATV.net in Venezuela checking on MANUEL SILVA-JARAMILLO, Department of Justice
Today. See Story below.

-Shimron

SEP 03 - PREET BHARARA, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and MICHELE M. LEONHART, the Acting Administrator of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration ("DEA"), announced the arrival today of JESUS EDUARDO VALENCIA-ARBELAEZ, a/k/a "Padre," a/k/a "Pat," who was extradited from Romania this morning to face cocaine trafficking and money laundering charges in the Southern District of New York.
According to the Superseding Indictment filed on July 7, 2009, and other filed court documents:



VALENCIA-ARBELAEZ was a leader of a sophisticated international cocaine trafficking organization (the "Organization") based in Colombia and Venezuela that operated worldwide, including in Bolivia, Spain, Holland, Sierra Leone, Guinea Conakry, Mauritania, Mali, Cyprus, and the United States.

• Beginning in September 2007, members of the Organization sought to purchase a cargo airplane for the purpose of transporting metric tons of cocaine from Venezuela to West Africa.
• Between September 2007 and March 2009, MANUEL SILVA-JARAMILLO, a member of the Organization arrested earlier this year, conducted meetings in connection with the Organization's efforts to acquire the airplane in, among other places, Madrid, Spain, New York, and Virginia.
• SILVA-JARAMILLO arranged to finance the purchase of the airplane through a corporation based in Cyprus and to register it in Sierra Leone.
• In a meeting in Europe in October 2007, SILVA-JARAMILLO delivered more than 1.25 million Euros in cash –- drug proceeds that represented a partial payment towards the airplane –- which he instructed were to be wire-transferred to different bank accounts in the United States.
• During one of these meetings, which was recorded, SILVA-JARAMILLO stated that the Organization had between 30 and 60 million Euros in Spain that it needed to launder.

In November 2008, VALENCIA-ARBELAEZ, who identified himself as a leader of the Organization, met in Madrid, Spain with a DEA confidential source who was assisting SILVA-JARAMILLO with the acquisition of the airplane.

During this meeting, VALENCIA-ARBELAEZ stated that the Organization enjoyed land support and a private military airfield in Guinea Conakry, located in West Africa, where the Organization could deliver cocaine shipments originating from Venezuela.

VALENCIA-ARBELAEZ also indicated that although he understood the airplane to be capable of carrying seven tons of cocaine at a time, the Organization wanted to start with shipments of two to three tons.

In January 2009, VALENCIA-ARBELAEZ met again with the confidential source in Europe. Among other things, VALENCIAARBELAEZ stated that the Organization was investigating the possibility of flying shipments of cocaine from Bolivia to West Africa.

On the following day, VALENCIA-ARBELAEZ arranged the delivery of 250,000 Euros in cash to the confidential source, which represented an additional payment toward the purchase of the airplane.

On June 10, 2009, VALENCIA-ARBELAEZ traveled to Bucharest, Romania, to attend a meeting concerning the Organization's establishment of a new base of operations.

• Acting on a provisional arrest request from the United States, Romanian law enforcement authorities arrested VALENCIA-ARBELAEZ in Bucharest, whereupon he was detained pending extradition to New York.
• VALENCIA-ARBELAEZ arrived in the United States this morning and will be presented later today before United States District Judge ROBERT P. PATTERSON.
• VALENCIA-ARBELAEZ is the fifth member of the Organization to have been arrested and brought to the United States to face narcotics conspiracy charges.
  

In April 2009, GERALDO QUINTANA-PEREZ, a/k/a "El Viejo," a/k/a "German Quintero," and HARVEY STEVEN PEREZ, a/k/a "Miguel," were transferred from Sierra Leone to the United States, marking the first ever such transfer of defendants between the two countries.

In June 2009, JAVIER CARO, a/k/a "William Zabieh," a/k/a "El Ingeniero," a/k/a "Javier Gonzalez," was transferred to U.S. custody from the Government of Togo.

Also in June 2009, SILVAJARAMILLO was arrested following a visit to the Dominican Republic. VALENCIA-ARBELAEZ, 43, and SILVA-JARAMILLO, 55, are both charged with conspiring to distribute at least five kilograms of cocaine in the United States; conspiring to import at least five kilograms of cocaine into the United States; and conspiring to launder narcotics proceeds. If convicted, VALENCIA-ARBELAEZ and SILVA-JARAMILLO each face life in prison for the drug charges and 20 years in prison for the money laundering charge. The remaining three defendants –- QUINTANAPEREZ, PEREZ, and CARO –- are charged with conspiring to distribute cocaine in the United States.

The arrest and extradition of VALENCIA-ARBELAEZ were the result of the close cooperative efforts of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, the DEA, the Department of State, the U.S. Department of Justice Office of International Affairs, the Romanian National Police, and the Danish National Police.

"VALENCIA-ARBELAEZ is charged with participating in a highly sophisticated drug-trafficking network whose criminal activities spanned the globe," said United States Attorney PREET BHARARA.

"Whether operating in Latin America, West Africa, Europe, or the United States, his Organization distributed vast quantities of cocaine and generated millions of dollars worth of illicit proceeds.

VALENCIA-ARBELAEZ's extradition today reflects the remarkable successes that cooperation between the United States and its partners can produce in the our joint efforts to combat drug-trafficking and money-laundering crimes. We will bring drug kingpins to justice wherever in the world they may be found."

"Today's extradition, combined with preceding indictments and arrests, have put Valencia-Arbelaez and his coconspirators out of business and behind bars," said MICHELE M. LEONHART, Acting Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration. "Working closely with our partners in countries across four continents, most notably Romania, Denmark, Spain, Sierra Leone, and Togo, this sophisticated international criminal and his organization have been targeted successfully, and their plots to conduct cocaine flights from Venezuela, Bolivia, and elsewhere in Latin America to West Africa effectively disrupted."

Assistant United States Attorneys REBECCA M. RICIGLIANO, BRENDAN R. McGUIRE, and ANJAN SAHNI are in charge of the prosecution, which is being handled by the International Narcotics Trafficking Unit. The charges contained in the Indictment are merely accusations and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Possible Coup Attempt in Togo

The brother of Togolese President Faure Gnassingbé, Kpatcha Gnassingbé, today was arrested in Lomé on suspicion of planning to stage a coup following a shootout in his house killing two on Sunday.

According to Togolese government sources, Kpatcha Gnassingbé was detained today "as he sought refuge at the US embassy after a military raid on his house that fuelled political speculation.

• "The brother of the President earlier served as Minister of Defence of Togo, but fell out with his brother and was removed from the post.
• Both are sons of Togo's former Dictator Gnassingbé Eyadema, who died in 2005, leading Faure Gnassingbé to take power in a coup, later legitimising his power through a flawed election.
• Brother Kpatcha remains an influential member of Togo's ruling party, the Rally of the Togolese People (RTP).

After leaving his post as Defence Minister, he has maintained private armed forces to look after his security as relations with his presidential brother cooled.

On Sunday, government security forces raided one of Kpatcha's Lomé houses, finding him and members of his private security agents there.

The raid developed into a shootout. At least two persons were killed and three others wounded in the attack.

The raid against the President's brother's house followed a suspicion of coup plotting. Togolese state prosecutors said the meeting at Kpatcha's house had been suspicious and the raid was a bid to arrest soldiers and civilians "suspected of trying to undermine state security."

President Gnassingbé took the alleged coup plotting seriously.

• He immediately cancelled a state visit to China as reports of the shootout reached him on Sunday. Togolese state prosecutors suspect Kpatcha Gnassingbé of planning to take advantage of the President's absence to stage a coup.
• Brother Kpatcha was put under house arrest following the incident, but managed to escape.
• Authorities immediately issued an arrest warrant against him. According to official Togolese sources, he made an unsuccessful attempt to seek refuge in the American Embassy in Lomé.
• Government troops loyal to President Gnassingbé however expected him in front of the Embassy, where he was peacefully detained.

The Rest @ African News Analysis

Benin Men Commit Ritual Murders Ahead of Elections in Togo

LOME, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Six grisly murders in Togo in which the victims were decapitated and drained of their blood have raised fears of a resurgence of ritual killings ahead of parliamentary elections in the West African state next month.

The serial killings occurred last weekend in the southern Vo and Lacs prefectures, east of the capital Lome. The victims included a 12-year-old boy and a 63-year-old woman and their severed heads were carried off by the killers.

The discovery of the headless corpses has shocked Togolese and triggered a wave of speculation that the killings were ritual murders. This is a practice still found in parts of Africa in which people kill to obtain body parts and blood in the belief they will bring social success and political power. Police announced the arrest of four suspects, including one from neighbouring Benin, the West African home of the ancient Voodoo religion, who confessed to killing the 12-year-old boy.

Togo holds legislative elections on Oct. 14, and international observers hope they will strengthen the weak grip of democracy in the small former French colony, which like Benin is wedged between Nigeria and Ghana on the Gulf of Guinea.

In a society where traditional beliefs still have influence, some Togolese saw a link between the killings and the ambitions of aspiring candidates for next month's polls.

"Some of these deputies are ready to do anything to keep their seats and you hear that they're carrying out sacrifices," said Joel Attigan, a geography student.

Others saw the murders as linked to a desire for social advancement.
"There are too many young rich people in Togo these days. These crimes are linked to these kind of people, who sometimes use human sacrifices to obtain their goals," said Da Mensa, the manager of a bar and restaurant in Lome.

Togo's media have joined the feverish debate, blaming shadowy religious sects in Togo and Benin.

"We are in Africa, and spilled human blood can reveal many things," the newspaper Le Magnan Libere said, referring to the witchcraft practice of using blood or body parts for divining or influencing the future.

The police have beeen cautious about confirming the ritual killing hypothesis.
But they said the arrested Benin citizen, Roger Kodjo Hounguiya, had confessed that he was working for a fellow countryman, Jean Goudjo, wanted in Benin for grisly murders involving mutilation.

The European Union, which froze most of its aid to Togo in 1993 citing the poor democratic record of then President Gnassingbe Eyadema, is sending electoral observers to the polls next month. Eyadema died in 2005 and his son is now president.

The Rest @ Reuters Africa