Colombia has extradited a suspected drug kingpin to the United States to face trafficking charges.
Luis Hernando Gomez flew out of Bogota Thursday, accompanied by agents with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. He was deported in February from Cuba, where he had been held since being arrested with a false passport in 2004.
Authorities say Gomez once ran the notorious Norte del Valle cartel, which has exported about 500 tons of cocaine to the United States and elsewhere since the 1990s.
In a nationally broadcast interview Thursday, Gomez said he will reveal the full extent of his activities to U.S. authorities, including his dealings with corrupt politicians, right-wing paramilitary forces, and leftist rebels. He said he requested a speedy extradition to the U.S. out of fear he would be murdered in Colombia.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.