Son of Cali drug lord faces long list of charges

MIAMI - The son of a former head of Colombia's Cali cocaine cartel, accused of keeping its drug business going while his father was in jail, has pleaded not guilty to a long list of criminal charges in federal court in Miami.

The brief court appearance by William Rodriguez Abadia, son of once feared Cali cartel kingpin Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela, came two days after he surrendered to US authorities in Panama.

Clad in blue jeans, a light blue shirt and ankle chains, the balding 40-year-old Rodriguez Abadia muttered only a few words in English and Spanish as his lawyer entered the plea on his behalf.

Rodriguez Abadia's Miami-based lawyer, Humberto Dominguez, told reporters his surrender in Panama capped about four months of secretive negotiations.

"It had to be extremely hush-hush, otherwise he wouldn't have made it out of Colombia," Dominguez said.

He said his client had been on the run in Colombia for years, was suffering from various health problems including the loss of one kidney, and had feared for his life while in hiding in his homeland.

"When you're living as a fugitive your life is at risk," said Dominguez.

Though he claims he is innocent, US authorities accuse Rodriguez Abadia of continuing to run the Cali cartel for his father and uncle, Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela, while they were in jail in Colombia in the late 1990s.

The Rodriguez Orejuela brothers are both now in jail in Miami awaiting trial.

The Cali cartel, which controlled up to 80 per cent of the world's cocaine in the early 1990s according to the US Drug Enforcement Administration, is no longer one of the major forces in the Colombian drug trade, which has fragmented in recent years.

But it was described in a statement from the US attorney's office as "one of the most prolific and violent organisations ever prosecuted in the United States."

In addition to drug trafficking and money laundering, Rodriguez Abadia faces obstruction of justice and racketeering conspiracy charges in the Southern District of Florida.

Dominguez said he was expected to go in trial in September.

- REUTERS