Colombia Extradites Two Nationals to U.S. on Murder & Kidnaping Charges

On October 28, 2002, the Colombian Government extradited two citizens suspected of participating in a violent kidnaping group that targeted U.S. and other foreign workers in Ecuador and demanded large ransoms from their multinational employers. Extradited were Juan Luis Brovo, 27, and Henrri Jamjoy Quistial, 28, who made their initial court appearances on October 28 in U.S. District Court in Miami on a 10-count indictment that charges they participated in an organization that engaged in kidnaping for profit in the Amazon basin from at least 1997 to 2001. In particular, they are charged with the murder of Ronald C. Sander, 54, an oil rig supervisor for Helmerich & Payne Co., based in Oklahoma. Sander was one of eight oil workers kidnapped in October 12, 2000 in northern Ecuador. The extradition is believed to be the first time Colombia has surrendered to the U.S. persons suspected of crimes other than international narcotics trafficking. The Colombian Government has also extradited at least 24 Colombians accused of international narcotics trafficking to the U.S. this year alone.