Leader of Cali Cartel Turns Himself In
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BOGOTA, Colombia — A leader of the world’s biggest cocaine-trafficking gang surrendered Saturday following months of negotiations between his lawyers and authorities.
The surrender of Cali cartel leader Julio Fabio Urdinola came 100 days after authorities killed Pablo Escobar, the boss of the rival Medellin cartel.
But the government used different strategies in netting the two: a military operation against Escobar and talks and offers of leniency for the Cali leaders.
A broadcast by the Cripton TV news station showed Urdinola pulling up in a station wagon to a maximum-security penitentiary in Palmira, 18 miles east of Cali, and going inside.
Under a penal code enacted late last year, traffickers who surrender, disclose their operations and turn their illicit gains over to the state can win leniency.
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