Seven men involved in the murder of a DEA Special Agent  will be extradited in the next few days since the Attorney General Office received the extradition orders from the National Government.

The Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Jorge Fernando Perdomo explained that the role of the Attorney General Office will be to accompany the process until these men are handed over to the U.S. authority. “These seven people who were arrested with a view to extradition will be brought before the competent authority in the United States. This is the way the process ends, ” said Perdomo.

DEA agent Watson was attacked after he meet with some friends to watch a basketball game on television in a bar located at the called Parque de la 93 in the north area of Bogota. He left the bar at night and when he took a taxi he was victim of so-called “paseo millonario” *. He tried to run away but he was stabbed and consequently he died.

In October 16, 2013 the prosecuting authority issued a positive concept for the extradition of these seven men for their alleged participation in the murder of Watson on June 20, 2013. The Attorney General Office issued this concept considering that this institution is part of the operative process of extradition (detentions) and is not part of the decision making as it is a competence of the Supreme Court and National government.

The desicion concerns Andrés Álvaro Oviedo García, Héctor Leonardo López, Julio Stiven García Ramírez, Édgar Javier Bello Murillo, Wilson Daniel Peralta Bocachica, Ómar Fabián Valdés Gualtero and Edwin Gerardo Figueroa Sepúlveda.

Likewise, the article 3 of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes against Internationally Protected Persons, including Diplomatic Agents confers jurisdiction to the State of which the concerned victim is a national. That is the main reason to proceed to the extradition, explained the Attorney General Office. It means there is not a constitutional reason to consider that extradition is not appropriate.

*Paseo millonario: A common tactic of robbery where victims are forced to use their ATM cards to empty their bank accounts.