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- WORLD, Page 33World NotesCOLOMBIAGood Deal for The Dealers
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- Christmas seemed to come early in Colombia last week as one
- of the country's most wanted drug lords turned himself in at a
- church 14 miles south of Medellin. Fabio ("Fabito") Ochoa
- Vasquez, 33, was the first chieftain of the so-called Medellin
- cartel to surrender under the terms of a decree announced by
- President Cesar Gaviria Trujillo last week. Ochoa is wanted in
- the U.S. for masterminding the 1986 slaying of federal witness
- Adler (Barry) Seal in Baton Rouge, La. He is also linked to
- drug-trafficking activities with former Panamanian leader Manuel
- Antonio Noriega.
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- The government expects 200 to 300 drug lords to take
- advantage of Gaviria's offer before Dec. 25. U.S. officials were
- less than jubilant. Under the terms of the decree, drug dealers
- are immune from extradition to the U.S. and not required to
- confess all their crimes. Depending on the Colombian courts,
- Ochoa could wind up serving less than 20 months in jail and
- possibly even go free.
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