Colombia extradited the mother of former President Alvaro Uribe's niece to the US to face drug trafficking and money laundering charges.
Dolly Cifuentes Villa, the former partner of Alvaro Uribe's late brother Jamie who died in 2001, was extradited to the US on August 7. She will be sent to Southern Florida where she faces charges of drug trafficking, money laundering, and ties to Mexican group the Sinaloa Cartel, reported the AFP.
Cifuentes was arrested in August last year on the grounds that the 32 businesses she managed in Colombia and 17 outside of the country were used to launder money for the Sinaloa Cartel. She is also believed to be a member of the Cifuentes Villa clan who are accused by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) of moving some 30 tons of cocaine into the US between 2009 to 2011.
News of Cifuentes' relationship with Jaime Uribe didn't emerge until after her arrest. During their relationship they had a daughter, Ana Maria Uribe Cifuentes, who is the niece of Alvaro Uribe. The US Treasury have designated Ana Maria as having links to the Cifuentes Villa clan but there are no charges against her.
InSight Crime Analysis
The news of Jamie Uribe's relationship with Dolly Cifuentes raised suspicions that the former president's brother had links to drug trafficking, something Alvaro Uribe has vehemently denied. The Cifuentes case placed Uribe in an uncomfortable position, and joined a list of allegations linking the former president and his family to paramilitary group the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) and even Pablo Escobar. However, Alvaro Uribe has so far emerged from the scandal unscathed.
Dolly Cifuentes' late brother, Francisco, who was killed in 2007 by former Medellin crime lord "Don Berna", was a personal pilot for Pablo Escobar. According to the US State Department, Dolly's other brother, Jorge Milton, who is still at large, is believed to be one of the primary suppliers of cocaine to the Sinaloa Cartel.
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