Argentina's security ministry said on Thursday that the country has extradited a suspected Colombian drug boss to the United States 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 on his way to Florida.
Authorities allege that the 45-year-old Lopez Londono is the leader of the "Urabenos" gang. He was arrested on the outskirts of Buenos Aires in 2012.
Lopez 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.
