MIAMI – Argentina's security ministry said on Thursday that the country has extradited a suspected Colombian drug boss to South Florida to face cocaine trafficking charges.
The Telam state news agency reported that federal police agents escorted Henry Lopez Londono from his prison cell to Ezeiza International Airport in Buenos Aires early Thursday.
He was handed to U.S. authorities and put on a plane to Miami. He faced a federal judge Friday morning.
Authorities allege that the 45-year-old is the leader of the "Urabenos" gang. He was arrested on the outskirts of Buenos Aires in 2012.
File: Indictment for Henry Lopez Londono
Londono has proclaimed his innocence and said he was set up by Colombian police and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
He also said that he was politically persecuted and asked for political asylum, but Argentina rejected the request.
Londono will be back in U.S. federal court on Nov. 29 to enter a plea of not guilty. The federal magistrate will decide then whether he is eligible for bond or deem him a flight risk and a danger to the community.
