Colombian admits money laundering

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The first man ever to be extradited from Colombia has admitted money laundering, at Southwark Crown Court.

Carlos Arturo Sanchez-Corovado had fled Britain shortly before other members of a UK-based drugs gang were jailed.

Sanchez-Corovado admitted 11 charges relating to £250,000 money laundering and the use of fake travel documents.

In 2004 and 2005, 31 other members of the gang - said to have links to the notorious Cali drugs cartel - were jailed for between one and 19 years.

But shortly before the arrests, Sanchez-Corovado had fled back to his native Colombia.

There, say police, he believed he was beyond the reach of UK authorities. But officials used an extradition treaty, dating back to 1889, to demand his return.

Now we have won that argument, other extraditions should be much more straightforward CPS

After a two-and-a-half-year legal battle, led by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and the Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca ), a Colombian judge ruled that he should be sent back to Britain.

"Not only did we have to convince the judge in Colombia that the man was who we said he was, we also had to show he had committed offences here, that were not only against UK law but also illegal in Colombia," one CPS source told the BBC.

When he was arrested in May last year, Sanchez-Corovado was working as a taxi driver.

Although he was a relatively minor player in the gang, this prosecution sets a major precedent.

"A lot of the work was around the principle involved - now we have won that argument, other extraditions should be much more straightforward," said the source.

"The message is, 'You can run, but you can't hide'."

Police sources admit they are already actively planning extraditions of other drugs fugitives in Colombia.

Sanchez-Corovado is due to be sentenced in June.