Sons, Daughters of Big-Time Drug Lords Indicted in Miami

The relatives of the kingpin who once ran the planet’s largest cocaine ring were indicted yesterday in Miami. Federal court documents allege six family members tied to the Colombia-based Cali Cartel lied to prosecutors and hid millions of dollars, using “deceit, craft, and trickery” to “defraud the United States,” (Check out the indictment here: cali.pdf)

In June 1995, Colombian National Police busted into a luxury apartment owned by a capo named Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela. The dapper drug lord had been nicknamed “The Chess Player” for his shrewdness and had shipped hundreds of millions of dollars worth of blow to the states. As cops searched the place, he hid for days in a hallowed-out bathroom cabinet — sucking air from an oxygen tank.

Cops soon arrested him — and his brother Miguel — then shipped them to the U.S. for a trial. President Bill Clinton announced the cartel had caused “unparalleled, violence, corruption and harm” and declared “a national emergency to deal with that threat.” The brothers were then sentenced to 30 years in prison in 2006. At the time, prosecutors agreed not to charge their children with money laundering and obstructing justice, so long as they forked over $2.1 billion in drug money.

Now the daughter, sons, sisters if the men are accused of concealing millions of bucks worth of assets including banks accounts, businesses and luxury homes. Their names are: Jaime Rodriguez-Mondragon, Humberto Rodriguez-Mondragon, Maria Alexandra Rodriguez-Mondragon, Amparo Rodriguez-Orejuela, Angela Maria Gil-Rodriguez, and Ana Maria Gil-Rodriguez,

Says U.S. Attorney Jeffrey H. Sloman: “Some cases never really go away, but sprout long and twisted tentacles.”