Colombia extradites eldest Cali cartel member

Colombia on Tuesday extradited to the United States Phanor Arizabaleta Arzayús, who was considered the "fifth most powerful man" inside the now disbanded Cali cartel.

Arizabaleta was extradited along with 13 other Colombians who were indicted in the United States on drug and money-laundering charges, according to Colombian authorities.

Arizabaleta was the partner and right-hand man of the notorious brothers Miguel and Gilberto Rodríguez Orejuela, founders of the cartel and who are now serving long prison terms in the United States following their extradition some years back.

The so-called "fifth man" of the Rodríguez Orejuela drug organization was captured on September 16 after he was tried and convicted in absentia. Arizabaleta is expected to appear in a US federal court in the District of Columbia where he was indicted for sending cocaine to the United States during the cartel's active years in the 1980s and the early part of the 1990s.

Authorities said that he is the oldest member of the Cali cartel's hierarchy.

During that decade, Arizabaleta was considered one of the Cali cartel's major money launderers.