Transcript of Press Conference

Announcing Guilty Pleas by Cali Cartel

Washington, D.C.
ATTORNEY GENERAL GONZALES: Good afternoon. We've got an all-star
lineup for all of you today. This morning Miguel and Alberto Rodriguez-Orejuela,
brothers who ran the infamous Cali drug cartel in Colombia for more than 20 years,
pleaded guilty in a federal court in Miami to a charge of conspiracy to import
cocaine into the United States. They each were immediately sentenced to 30 years in
prison. The brothers also agreed to plead guilty to a charge of conspiracy to commit
money laundering by hiding the proceeds of narcotics trafficking.

These two men were responsible for importing more than 200 tons of cocaine into
this country over the course of many years. While at the height of their power, the
intimidation and violence of their cartel held the people of the Colombian
countryside hostage to fear.

Thanks to truly historic cooperative efforts by U.S. law enforcement agencies and
the Colombian government, these men today face U.S. justice. In court this
morning, the two brothers agreed to pay a $2.1 billion forfeiture. In addition, in a
separate agreement, 28 of the Rodriguez-Orejuela family members agreed to forfeit
all of their assets anywhere in the world that were obtained directly or indirectly
with narcotics proceeds.

We anticipate that these assets will be found to be in the form of everything from
bank and investment accounts to businesses, luxury residences, and more.

The brothers' guilty pleas effectively signal the final fatal blow to the powerful Cali
cartel. There are always other traffickers, and thus continuing the challenges for law
enforcement. But this is a day of pride for the people of Colombia and for
international law enforcement.

The arrest, extradition to the United States, and now the conviction of these
criminals were all made possible by extraordinary cooperation between the United
States and Colombia, our valued partner in the war to eradicate narcotics trafficking,
and the violence and corruption that accompanies it.

I am pleased to be joined at the podium by Ambassador Carolina Barco and wish to

extend my deepest thanks on behalf of our country for the partnership and the
bravery of President Uribe and the Colombian government. Together we have
proven that Colombia will not be held hostage by drug lords, and that those who
seek to flood the neighborhoods of the United States with the poison of illegal drugs
will be held accountable. They will be discovered, and they will be brought to
justice.

I want to add that I believe our fight against illegal drugs has benefited from some
of the reforms to our government that came after the terrorist attacks of September
11th, 2001. During that time, law enforcement agencies took important steps to
ensure information sharing and efficient use of resources. One of the tools
developed was a unified national law enforcement list of the most significant drug
and money laundering targets. The Cali cartel was on that list, the Consolidated
Priority Organization Target or CPOT list.

CPOT has enabled drug enforcement officers at all levels to assemble the resources
necessary to zero in on the worst of the drug trafficking organizations, like the Cali
cartel. Of the 46 current CPOTs, 37 are under indictment in the U.S. In the last three
years, law enforcement has completely dismantled 24 CPOT organizations and
significantly disrupted one additional CPOT organization.

As with all matters of law enforcement, organization, cooperation and partnerships

are what counted most in this case. In that spirit, I want to thank and congratulate
the investigators and prosecutors who were involved, including U.S. Immigration
and Customs Enforcement at the Department of Homeland Security, represented
here by Julie Myers, Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security; the Drug
Enforcement Administration represented by Karen Tandy, the DEA Administrator;
the Office of Foreign Asset Control at the Treasury Department represented by
Adam Szubin, the director; the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Southern District of
Florida, represented by U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta; the U.S. Attorney's Office in the
Southern District of New York, represented by Deputy U.S. Attorney Cathy Seibel;
and the Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section of the Criminal Division and the
Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Forces at the Department of Justice
represented by Assistant Attorney General Alice Fisher.

I would also like to acknowledge the terrific partnership of the White House Office
of National Drug Control Policy, represented here by Director John Walters.

Now some of the agencies' participants will be making a few statements, beginning
with the Assistant Secretary, Julie Myers, and afterwards we'll take any questions.

MS. MYERS: Today's historic plea agreements are the culmination of 15 years of
commitment, international teamwork and exceptional investigative efforts by many
agencies. These guilty pleas also mark the end of one of the most powerful criminal
organizations in the world.

In its heyday, the Cali cartel was responsible for roughly 80 percent of the cocaine
supplied to the U.S. The organization was also behind a campaign of violence,
murder and corruption that for more than 20 years impacted numerous governments
and countless individuals around the globe.

ICE agents in Miami first launched their probe into the Cali cartel in 1991, after a
very alert Customs dog found cocaine hidden in some concrete posts. And over the
next 15 years, ICE agents worked hand-in-hand with Colombian authorities, the
DEA, and many other agencies to dismantle this organization from top to bottom.

With today's guilty plea and sentencing, the founders of this cartel are now outfitted
in U.S. prison garb, and they will serve a 30-year prison sentence. These criminals
rank as the highest level drug figures to ever occupy a U.S. jail cell. And this
unprecedented accomplishment is a tribute to the ICE agents in Miami, New York
and Colombia who worked tirelessly and fearlessly to take down this criminal
organization.

And I'd like to single out ICE Special Agent Ed Cazarossci in particular for his
incredible efforts on this case. He was on this case from day one. Fifteen years later,
still working on this case, a key member.

We also owe a special debt of gratitude to the many Colombian law enforcement
officers, specifically the Colombian vetted teams, who risked their lives to bring
about these unprecedented results. For years, the Cali cartel leaders thought they
could operate beyond the reach of law enforcement. But the tenacity and
perseverance of this investigation sent a clear message that no degree of money,
violence or corruption will protect kingpins from the rule of law.

Cross-border crime poses an ongoing threat to our homeland, and fighting this
threat calls for courage, leadership, perseverance and partnership, and that's just
what we've seen in this case. I can assure that ICE and the Department of Homeland
Security remain as committed as ever to combating the global drug trade and the
murderous groups behind it.

And now it's my pleasure to introduce the DEA Administrator, Karen Tandy.

MS. TANDY: Today will go down in history as the last nail in the coffin of the
Cali cartel. Every year, DEA arrests thousands of significant drug traffickers, almost
30,000 alone last year. Some of them are among the world's most wanted
traffickers, but it doesn't get any bigger than today: Bringing to justice the two
remaining leaders, founding leaders of the notorious Cali cartel, Miguel and Alberto
Rodriguez-Orejuela.

Today's guilty pleas and the sentencing that they received show that when law
enforcement and countries band together like the United States and Colombia, drug
dynasties topple. And it includes those which one thought themselves impervious to
the rule of law, one after another, from the ruthless Medellin cartel to the once
powerful now Cali cartel, and to their successors, the Norte Valle cartel, which tried
to pick up where the Medellin and Cali cartels failed, and now are fragmented and
splintered, with their key leaders facing U.S. charges.

And to conclude with the entire leadership of the FARC, which has been charged in
the United States and is now trying to avoid the same inevitable fate as the
Rodriguez-Orejuela brothers and their cartel today.

For decades, the Rodriguez-Orejuela brothers defined the label "kingpin." During
little more than a decade, their Cali cartel sold, as you have heard, more than 30,000
kilograms of cocaine and amassed an illicit fortune that was worth in excess of one
billion dollars.

There is no doubt that if these two brother drug lords were legitimate, they'd be in
the top tier of the Forbes list of the richest people in this world. But their drug
fortune became their Achilles heel. And it was the hundreds of pharmacies that
concealed and sheltered their drug profits that paved their way to the ultimate
American justice that they received today.

Gilberto Rodriguez-Orejuela was known as the chess player for his ability to stay
ahead of his rivals and law enforcement. To the chess player today, we just have
one last thing to say: Checkmate.

And now I would like to introduce John Walters, the director of the White House
Office of National Drug Control Policy.

Thank you.

MR. WALTERS: Thank you, Karen. I'd like to add my congratulations to those of
the Attorney General's and those that came before me to the many people in
Colombia and in the United States, U.S. Attorney's Offices and enforcement
agencies who brought this case to the conclusion that we see today.

The credit also goes obviously to President Uribe and his courage in working
aggressively with U.S. officials, extraditing key individuals, these two individuals
being the largest in terms of their reach and responsibility for the drug problem in
this hemisphere.

People in the past talked about the Cali cartel as the peaceful cartel, but their reign
of terror and blood, their war with Pablo Escobar in the early nineties, still haunts
the collective memory of many in Colombia and many in this country that worked
against them. It was -- the Cali cartel was one of the most powerful criminal
organizations ever, seeking to buy or kill anybody that got in their way. They sought
to influence a president, a defense minister, an entire city and make it their own.
They had a counterintelligence network. They monitored phones. They even
targeted people calling the U.S. Embassy in Bogota.
One of them, Santacruz Londono, built an enormous mansion shaped like the
United States to honor, as he said, his customers. When -- he was working on a
30,000 square foot replica of the White House when he died, in addition.

Ivan Urdinola and his brother were credited with the torture and murder of more
than a hundred people, whose bodies they threw into the Colca River to float
downstream and terrorize those who would stand against them. They were as bloody
and as ruthless as it gets.

Today, most of the Cali cartel founders are dead; Pacho Herrera, Jose Santacruz
Londono, Ivan Urdinola. What is left is here in the United States in Miami. And
they have just been convicted, as you heard, two more felons who have lost their
battle to the U.S. justice system and to the international effort to bring to justice
those who would harm others.

Our strategy in Colombia is working. We are attacking traffickers across all fronts,
as you've heard, by eradication, interdiction and organizational attack. By putting
traffickers on the defensive, life is much better in Colombia. Violence and
homicides, massacres have dropped to levels not seen in decades. Travel through
Colombia has become safer, and Colombians have taken back their country. They're
on the front lines.

By reducing cultivation in fields, we increase the financial risk to growers and take
income away from illegal armed groups that control the production of the end
cocaine cycle.

I would like to take a moment finally to remember those men and women in
Colombia, our own citizens and those of our allies, who gave their lives in this
fight. They made this day possible, and we are profoundly grateful to them and their
families for the sacrifices they have made for freedom and justice.

The Rodriguez brothers' arrest is a testament to the men and women of the
Columbian National Police, other Colombian officials, the dedicated efforts of ICE,
DEA, personnel from the high intensity drug trafficking areas that involve state,
federal and local law enforcement, and for all the prosecutors and enforcement
personnel that made this case a reality.

Finally, I'd like to take a moment and introduce a representative of Colombia,

Ambassador Carolina Barco, who has been an ally in Colombia, and we're fortunate
to have her here today as a representative and our ambassador from Colombia to
Washington, D.C.

AMBASSADOR BARCO: I will be reading a statement sent by Mario Iguaran,

who is the Attorney General of Colombia and who worked very closely with the
Attorney General here in the United States. This is his statement:
The Prosecutor General of the Republic of Colombia endorses the agreement
reached in the U.S. District Court, District of South Florida, between the United
States of American and the members of the Rodriguez-Orejuela family, and
considers it a historic judicial decision for both countries in their struggle against
organized crime.

This agreement fulfills the objectives of fair administration of justice based on the
principles of efficiency, procedural economy and effective and reciprocal
cooperation, and does not violate any of the rights contained in the Colombian
Constitution, and especially that of due process in Article 29 of the aforementioned
charter, in accordance with international treaties entered into and ratified by
Colombia.

As regards the action of extinction of ownership, the aforementioned agreement

reflects the will of the Rodriguez-Orejuela family to surrender their illicit property
in Colombia to the Colombian state, represented by the Prosecutor General, who in
observance of the guidelines set out in Law 793 of 202, will define the pertinent
procedure with the advent of the parties.

This procedure will result in the promptness, effectiveness and verity and of the
extinction action so that the illegally acquired goods be definitely transferred to the
Colombian state to the fund for rehabilitation, social investment and fight against
organized crime, which is managed by the National Narcotics Directorate.

The Colombian prosecutor's office considers that this agreement concludes one of
the most painful chapters of our recent history that brought grave harm to our
society at the cost of the precious gift of life or many of our citizens, including
prosecutors, judges and magistrates, and undermined the institutional organizations
that vehemently confront organized crime on a daily basis, seeking to preserve the
economic, social and legal balance in Colombia. Sincerely, Mario Herman Iguaran,
Prosecutor General of Colombia.

ATTORNEY GENERAL GONZALES: Thank you, Ambassador.

Before taking your questions, let me just say that Columbia is our top extradition
partner. Since 1997, when the Constitution was interpreted to allow for the
extradition of Colombian nationals, there have been 453 -- I believe that’s right, 453
Colombians who have been extradited to the United States, and so they really have
been a tremendous partner is helping us fight and make great successes in this war
against narcotics trafficking.

We’ve got a wealth of talent up here with a lot of experience and information, so
we’re happy to take your questions. It may be helpful, if you have specific
individuals you would like to answer a question, to please identify that individual.

Questions. Yes.
QUESTION: What happens to the 28 relatives that have -- do they get off? Do they
not -- is there anything that can -- can they be charged at all or with their -- are they
just --

ATTORNEY GENERAL GONZALES: They are subject to a separate agreement,

and this is separate from the plea agreement with respect to the two main brothers.
They are subject to a separate agreement where they agree to forfeit assets around
the world that are indirectly or directly related to narcotics trafficking, and they
forfeit any assets they may have in the United States whether related in any way to
narcotics trafficking.

So we believe that that is a strong penalty, and I might add that if, going forward,
there are any additional assets that become discovered, that those will be forfeited as
well. So that will be the penalty suffered by the family members.

QUESTION: Does that mean they’re not charged with anything, basically?

ATTORNEY GENERAL GONZALES: They’re currently not charged with

anything. Again, that doesn’t preclude, I think, Alex, the possibility that if additional
information became known that possible charges -- maybe I should defer to Alex.

MR. ACOSTA: None of the 28 family members are involved with narcotics
trafficking. We have agreed to not pursue obstruction and money laundering charges
against six of the children. That would be for activities that were not narcotics
trafficking activities but simply obstruction.

In return for that, the 28 family members are agreeing to surrender all assets in the
United States whether or not linked to narcotics proceeds, as well as all assets
throughout the world that are linked to narcotics proceeds.

QUESTION: Mr. Attorney General, to whom will these assets be forfeited? I

thought I understood the Ambassador to be saying that Colombia would be
receiving some of this. How do you make that decision?

And can any of you say why -- and this sounds an odd thing to say, but why is only
$2 billion, given the size of their fortune?

ATTORNEY GENERAL GONZALES: As to the second question, I’ll ask Adam

to respond to that. The simple answer to your first question is it depends where the
assets or the proceeds are found. Most of it will probably be -- a substantial amount
of it will probably be in Colombia, and so those assets will go to Colombia. Those
assets found in the United States will go to the United States. We believe there are
additional assets that will be found in the countries of Ecuador and Spain, and so
those countries would receive those assets. So that would be a simple response.

QUESTION: And, I’m sorry, what’s here? Money and bank accounts, mostly?
ATTORNEY GENERAL GONZALES: Again, that’s still being assessed. I think
it’s probably going to be bank accounts, maybe life insurance policies. Looking at
the -- and the reason, the reason why those assets may seem small in comparison to
what you find in Colombia is because these criminals have learned that if you have
assets in the United States, you’re likely to lose them. And that’s why those assets
are small today.

MR. ACOSTA: To add to what the Attorney General said, as the Attorney General
said, this is the final and fatal blow to the Cali Cartel. Prior to this, we have
prosecuted 105 individuals associated with the Cali Cartel, and that included prior
prosecutions, prior forfeitures.

The $2.1 billion forfeiture that was adjudicated this morning is the result of the
Rodriguez-Orejuela brothers admitting to the trafficking of more than 200,000 kilos
of cocaine in court this morning. We believe that a $2.1 billion forfeiture is more
than sufficient to cover the remaining assets of the Cali Cartel, both those that are
currently identified in the form of various financial assets that the Attorney General
alluded to, as well as what other assets may be discovered whether in the United
States or throughout the world.

QUESTION: This may be a question for the administrator. Obviously, this is a

huge achievement for the agencies after such a long investigation, but as you
dismantled this organization has the supply of cocaine in the U.S. gone up, down, or
stayed the same from these successor organizations?

MR. WALTERS: The effort we use from multiple agencies to assess the overall
production and flow suggests that the effort to reduce the cultivation has been
successful in Colombia, a significant drop in the overall output from the Andes in
cultivation of cocaine.

We are still, obviously, victims, as Colombia is, of cocaine trafficking. It’s been
taken over by some smaller, less powerful trafficking groups, some of the armed,
right-wing paramilitaries that have now been demobilized and are awaiting final
adjudication, action, some of whom are subject to charges in the United States, and
the left-wing FARC, as it was mentioned earlier, many of whose leaders have been
indicted in the United States.

So we are continuing to press this. The amount of cocaine that was available -- this
is subsequent to the Cali Cartel but before today, through the expansion of
cultivation done by these successor groups in the mid-‘90s is substantially lower
today than it was at its peak, but we continue to do efforts at both interdiction,
eradication on the supply side, as well as dismantling these organizations.

So there are signs of less availability, but the players have changed in the 15 years
since this investigation has started. Against the new players, we are making
progress.
ATTORNEY GENERAL GONZALES: Before we take any more questions, we’d
like -- I’d like to give the representative from Treasury OFAC an opportunity to say
a few words.

MR. SZUBIN: Thank you. I’m Adam Szubin, the director of the Office of Foreign
Assets Control at the Treasury Department.

Today’s agreements represent government at its best. By combining the financial

sanctions powers of the Treasury Department with the law enforcement and
criminal authorities of those on this stage and working closely with our partners in
Colombia, we have crippled, as you have heard, what was one of the most notorious
and dangerous drug cartels in the world.

Today’s agreement also brings into sharp relief the power of financial sanctions.
Since 1995, Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control or OFAC has relentlessly
pursued Colombian drug cartels using Executive Order 12978 to designate and
freeze the U.S.-controlled assets of over 100,200 companies and individuals. We
have focused in particular on the notorious Cali Cartel, designating over 700 entities
and people that were operating as fronts for Gilberto and Miguel Rodriguez-
Orejuela.

The heart of this financial network was the Colombian drugstore chain Drogas La
Rebaja as well as pharmaceutical laboratories like Pharmacoup, which allowed the
Rodriguez-Orejeulas to launder their narcotics proceeds while also providing an
ostensibly legitimate source of income for them and their families. For ten years, the
OFAC investigators have pursued the Rodriguez-Orejeulas’ dirty assets around the
world, uncovering new front companies in Colombia, Ecuador, Spain, and six other
countries, as the family attempted to mask its financial trails and circumvent our
sanctions.

The impact of these sanctions has been dramatic. When OFAC designates a person
or company, any assets held by a U.S. person or bank anywhere in the world must
be frozen. Trade with or through the United States is cut off. And, even more
importantly, Colombian businesses and banks have followed suit, severing all ties
with entities that OFAC has listed. And Colombian authorities have frequently been
able to act against designated companies and properties as well, as they did in the
massive forfeiture action against Drogas La Rebaja.

Indeed, in Colombia, being designated by OFAC is referred to as muerte civil or

civil death. This unrelenting pressure was a key prompt of today’s agreements. In a
separate agreement, as you’ve heard, 28 designated family members of the
Rodriguez-Orejuela family have agreed to forfeit their interests in all narcotics-
related entities worldwide, including the hundreds of entities designated by OFAC
since 1995.

They have also committed to assist U.S. and Colombian authorities in any future
forfeiture actions. If the 28 Rodriguez-Ore Eula family members fully comply with
the terms of this agreement and meet all terms of removal, we will work to remove
them from OFAC’s list. Any future dealings with narcotics traffickers including on
behalf of the two still designated Rodriguez-Ore Eula brothers will land them back
on our list.

Today’s outcome is a success. Two dangerous drug lords are headed to prison, and
their once-powerful financial empire has been dismantled. This result is a team
effort in every sense of the word, and we extend our deep appreciation to our
dedicated colleagues in the U.S. Attorney’s Offices in Miami and New York, the
Drug Enforcement Administration, the Departments of Homeland Security and
State, and in the Colombian government. I want to extend a special thanks to our
exceptional narcotics team at OFAC.

Thank you.

QUESTION: Yes. First, would all those 28 relatives be allowed to travel back and
forth to the United States?

Second question is what happens with all the companies that are currently on that
list? Are they removed from the list? Will they have to go through a process? Are
many companies in Colombia and abroad on that list?

And third, Administrator Tandy was saying that the FARC wanted to avoid running
the to save face as the Rodriguez-Orejeulas. Are there are contacts with them? Is
there any type of process going on with the FARC leadership?

ATTORNEY GENERAL GONZALES: I’ll take the first one. We’ll be working
with the Department of Homeland Security and the State Department regarding the
access of the 28 family members into the United States, so that’s something that
remains to be worked out.

MR. SZUBIN: In terms of de-listings, these assets will all remain on our list until
they are forfeited or divested to the relevant authorities. So these will remain frozen
until they are turned over.

MS. TANDY: The FARC, as I said, has been indicted. Its entire leadership has
been indicted here in the United States. Two of its principal leaders, one
commander as well as one of the financiers for the FARC are in the United States in
court facing their own form of justice as the Cali Cartel received today.

QUESTION: But do you expect a similar agreement with them as you agreed with
the Rodriguez-Orejeulas?

MS. TANDY: I expect that every cartel, whether it was Medellin, Cali, Norte de
Valle, and the FARC will reach the same fate as the Ore Eula brothers.
QUESTION: No contacts with the leadership in Colombia?

MS. TANDY: That’s all I have to say about that. We’re following the system.
They’ve been charged. We’re going after them, and they’ll be here one day, I am
sure.

ATTORNEY GENERAL GONZALES: Other questions? Yes.

QUESTION: On the subject of the national intelligence estimate, will there be an

investigation into how that was leaked? And what impact do you think this will have
on your role with the jihadists that information about this has come to light?

ATTORNEY GENERAL GONZALES: It’s too early to tell with respect to the
second part of your question. In terms of whether or not there will be an
investigation, as you know, we normally don’t confirm from the podium whether or
not there is an investigation by the Department.

We have a standard procedure in place that is followed with respect to leaks of

classified information, and I suspect that that standard procedure will be followed in
this case as it is in virtually every other case. So we’ll have to wait and see.

QUESTION: Can you estimate the total drug -- illegal drug profit by the cartel
from 1991 until today?

ATTORNEY GENERAL GONZALES: John.

MR. WALTERS: You could create a crude estimate. We don’t have a precise
figure. Actually, for the -- we have more precision in some of the actions of the Cali
members because they were -- some of them were -- some of them that are
sentenced today were control freaks and insisted on accounting and being directly
involved in that. So we have information from some of these investigations that was
undoubtedly part of this trial as well as others about what they were actually
moving.

But if you try to get an aggregate estimate of -- we know over that period of time
how much was moved. We have a rough estimate of how much they were
responsible for, but whether they got the wholesale or the retail price can radically
change the rates of inflation.

At the time, they were -- various estimates are between half and 80 percent over the
time when they were the strongest. But, again, those are estimates and -- so we do
the best we can, but I want to warn you against high precision in this. They don’t
submit a tax return.

QUESTION: A crude estimate would be?

MR. WALTERS: Well, again, what was happening 15 years ago and subsequent, it
would have been between 50 and 80 percent, as a crude estimate of the cocaine
flowing between them and the -- largely the Medellin Cartel. There were some
smaller players at the time, but -- and I don’t remember what the aggregate estimate
of total flow to the United States was at that time. We can try to get that for you.

There are reports that do those estimates. But, again, if you do how much they
actually made at the wholesale level versus what was retailed into the United States,
you get significantly different numbers because the price is higher at the smaller
retail level.

QUESTION: What’s -- I mean what’s the range? What are we talking about as a
range?

MR. WALTERS: Well, the estimates were, at that time, I think, between 500 and
700, 800 metric tons. That’s 1,000 kilos a ton, and I think a kilo -- I don’t know, at
that time.

Are people here from DEA? Does anyone remember exactly what a kilo was going
for about ten years ago? I don’t remember.

ATTORNEY GENERAL GONZALES: Listen, we’ll look into that. We’ll try to
give you -- we obviously don’t have it. We’re struggling with that, so we’ll get that
for you.

MODERATOR: Two more questions.

QUESTION: Besides the $2.1 million that they decided to turn into the authorities,
did they agree to cooperate with the Justice in other processes against other cartels?

ATTORNEY GENERAL GONZALES: The agreement does not require them to

cooperate in other investigations. The level of cooperation extends to the
identification of assets. That was the deal reached.

QUESTION: The history of breaking down big cartels like the Medellin Cartel is
that you have then a hundred little cartels that are even more efficient. What is the
plan to deal with those?

ATTORNEY GENERAL GONZALES: Julie, you want to --

MS. MYERS: Okay. Well, the plan to deal with the successors to the Cali Cartel is
to use the same innovative techniques and partnerships that we’ve done in this case,
to work with the DEA, with OFAC, to go after where we see the strong players in
this area. Right now it’s the Norte de Valle Cartel, the FARC.

Administrator Tandy has identified some of the steps we’ve taken there. I think we
can see from this investigation how, even though it spanned 15 years, they changed
techniques, you know, put it in frozen broccoli, put it in ceramic tiles, you know,
operating from jail cells, but law enforcement continued. And that’s what we’ll do
for smaller cartels or for big cartels is we’ll work together as a group to dismantle
these.

ATTORNEY GENERAL GONZALES: Okay. One more question.

QUESTION: General Gonzales, can you tell use when you’re expecting this -- two
big bills on Capitol Hill, the detainee legislation, are you going to give us a -- and
can you clear up some confusion on the NSA from Senators Craig and Murkowski -
- who put out a statement saying that the administration had agreed in a word to
conduct electronic surveillance of U.S. persons, a court order of warrant is
necessary. Has the administration agreed to that, and wouldn’t that in effect put an
end to the program that the President acknowledged?

ATTORNEY GENERAL GONZALES: Well, these are two very important

programs, two important pieces of legislation. That is important as far as the
President is concerned to continue to fight effectively the war on terror. And we
certainly hope that we can get something -- both pieces of legislation passed this
week, and we understand there are challenges given the legislative calendar, but
they’re very important, and we continue to hope that Congress will be able to pass
the legislation this week.

The -- what the President has said with respect to TSP is that he wanted additional
authorities granted by Congress to support that program, and I think that the
compromise that has been reached achieves that objective with the option of looking
at individual court orders, moving from approval of a program to specific court
orders. I think that option is in there. And it also provides for an avenue for the
President to submit a program to a court for adjudication of the constitutionality of
the program.

And so I think that’s the current state of play. But, you know, this is something that
is changing, and so it changes hourly, daily, in terms of what legislation is actually
going to look like. What the President has said -- what he wants to see with respect
to TSP is additional authority granted by the Congress to support that program.

QUESTION: Is it then wrong to say, as the Republican Senator said yesterday that
the administration has agreed that it will seek a warrant any time it wants to listen in
on the conversations of a U.S. person?

ATTORNEY GENERAL GONZALES: Well, again, I think the legislation that’s

currently in play allows for a program, again, with the option of submitting the --
the option of looking to -- turning that program into individual requests for specific
court orders. So I can’t get any more specific than that.

QUESTION: Ambassador, you read that statement, but may I ask you, in your own
words, to describe for us what kind of hold the Cali Cartel had on Colombia in the
1990s and what this -- the resolution of this means for Colombia?

AMBASSADOR BARCO: I spoke and I read a statement by our Attorney General

because in Colombia the Attorney General’s Office is independent from the
Executive. It’s part of the judicial system. So this is why I am here to represent the
judicial system, and that’s why I read this statement, because he wanted to express
his agreement and satisfaction with the kind of collaboration that we had and the
cooperation in which Colombia was involved throughout the process and was able
to ensure that both our Constitutions, the terms of our extradition agreements were
all taken into account so that Colombia’s judicial system was represented in what
was an American decision.

I’m not an expert then, as you can imagine, on the cartel. All I can say is that, for
Colombia, the drug problem has been its major challenge, and we have been
fighting this since the 1980s with great conviction and at great cost. As I said, we’ve
lost many lives: presidential candidates, prosecutors, governors; and it has meant
that the country has had to hold together to fight these cartels.

As a Colombian, I think we all need to continue to speak out to what drug

trafficking means to any country because it is that terrible combination of incredible
amounts of money, which breed corruption, and incredible amounts of violence that
are entailed in this -- in the illegal drug trafficking, which puts great, great pressure
on any democracy and on any institution.

So Colombia will continue to fight for its democracy. We will continue to fight for
a right to a peaceful country because this money also helps to finance terrorism in
my country. We will continue to fight for values that have to do with honest work
and not values that are associated to fast money and drug trafficking. And so
Colombia will continue to speak out and will continue to fight with zero tolerance
for drugs, and will stay committed and continue in this kind of collaboration with
the United States.

And we want to work also very closely with our neighbors. We’ve gotten very
involved with the Caribbean, with Central America, sharing information, seeking to
help them with security. We want to keep our region also away from this problem,
and we feel that Colombia has to give an example, and speak out, and play a role.
Thank you.

ATTORNEY GENERAL GONZALES: Thank you all.

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