Colombian Drug Trafficker in Federal Court: Rojas

Nayibe Rojas is in a federal court in Washington, arguing to a jury that she's not a cocaine trafficker, but merely a peasant with a desire to bring justice to her country.^[1] However the contrary evidence points to a woman living in the jungles of southern Colombia, wearing combat fatigues and directing the finances of a powerful unit of the leftist FARC guerrillas.^[2]

On Thursday February 8, the jury began sifting through the evidence, which included the testimonies of five internal drug operatives, wiretaps and videos, to determine if Rojas is guilty of conspiracy to export drugs to the United States.^[3]

Prosecutors say Rojas served from 2000 to 2003 as finance chief of the 14th Front of the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia), Latin America's oldest and largest leftist guerrilla force.^[4] While the United States considers the FARC a terrorist organization, the FARC says it's fighting for the rights of the rural poor against the interests of the wealthy ruling elites. The Front operated in the coca-rich Caguan River area of southern province of Caqueta.^[5]

When she was captured on Feb. 10, 2004, soldiers found weapons and 6.5 kilograms of cocaine, and in March 2005, she was extradited to the United States.^[6] A failure to convict Rojas would be an awkward defeat for the U.S. government, which has dubbed the FARC a "narco-terrorist guerrilla group" that controls 70 percent of the Colombian cocaine trade and uses the proceeds to finance its insurgency.^[7]

Rojas faces jail terms of up to 30 years for drug trafficking, which we have previously discussed here.

Drug Importation is defined as a crime if a person has imported into the United States any controlled substance in schedule I or II, or any narcotic drug in schedules III, IV, or V.^[8] Definitions on the drug schedules can be found here.

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^[1] Pablo Bachelet, Colombian Guerrilla Awaits a Decision in Drug-Trafficking Trial, McClatchy Newspapers ( via Kansas City Star), February 09, 2007.
^[2] Id.
^[3] Id.
^[4] Id.
^[5] Id.
^[6] Id.
^[7] Id.
^[8] 21 U.S.C. § 952(a) (2005).