Asia Pacific Defence & Security Exhibition

Associated Press 23 May

HOUSTON: A member of a Colombian right-wing paramilitary group pleaded not guilty Friday to participating in an attempt to acquire anti-aircraft missiles, grenade launchers and other powerful weapons in exchange for $25 million (€15.9 million) worth of cocaine.

An attorney for Diego Alberto Ruiz Arroyave entered the plea during an arraignment hearing. U.S. Magistrate Judge Calvin Botley ordered that Ruiz be held without bond, saying he was a flight risk.

Ruiz was one of 14 right-wing paramilitaries from the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, known by its Spanish initials, AUC, who were nabbed in a surprise pre-dawn operation last week.

They were extradited to the United States to face charges of supporting a terrorist organization and drug trafficking in the attempted deal. The others have made court appearances in the cities where their charges were filed — New York, Washington, Miami and Tampa, Florida.

Ruiz is charged with conspiring to provide material support and resources to the AUC, which has been designated a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. government. If convicted, Ruiz faces up to 15 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 (€159,000).

The charge stems from a 2004 indictment by a federal grand jury in Houston that accuses him of participating in a scheme to acquire Russian and Eastern European-made weapons for the AUC in exchange for cocaine. The weapons included shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles, rocket propelled grenade launchers and AK-47 assault weapons. The AUC never got any weapons.

Ruiz was one of six men who participated in the plot, the indictment said. Four of those indicted, including two high ranking "commandantes" of the AUC, have pleaded guilty in the case.

Prosecutors say that from September 2001 until November 2002, the men met in Houston, Mexico City, London, Bogota, Colombia and other locations with an undercover police officer and an FBI confidential informant to hammer out a deal for the weapons.

The AUC was formed in the 1980s to defend wealthy ranchers from leftist guerrillas, but the vigilante force quickly turned into one of Colombia's biggest drug-trafficking organizations.

Under a peace process begun in 2003, more than 31,000 paramilitary fighters have demobilized and many of the group's leaders agreed to prison sentences.

But Colombian President Alvaro Uribe decided to extradite the 14 men, saying they were still committing crimes from prisons and were not cooperating with authorities.

Many victims of the private militias and human rights activists are concerned the extraditions could undermine investigations in Colombia into paramilitary atrocities.