Drug cartel-funded hit squads exploded four bombs in Bogota in apparent revenge for Sunday's extradition to the United States of a key figure in the Medellin cocaine cartel, police said Monday.
Two bombs damaged a concrete factory and a bus terminal in the northwest section of the city. Homes near a high school in the north and a community center in the south were also damaged, police said. No injuries were reported.Police said all four bombs exploded between 9:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. Sunday, only hours after Jose Abello Silva, the reputed No. 7 man in the Medellin cartel, was extradited to the United States for trial on drug charges in Tulsa, Okla.
Police said they made no arrests in the attacks but were convinced they were in revenge for the extradition of Abello Silva, who was turned over to U.S. drug enforcement agents Sunday and flown to the United States.
He is the fifth Colombian sent to the United States to face drug trafficking charges since President Virgilio Barco re-established extradition Aug. 18 after a string of assassinations by the cocaine cartels.
Eduardo Martinez Romero was extradited Sept. 6, and Ana Beatriz Rodriguez, Bernardo Peleaz Roldan and Roberto Victor Carlini were turned over to American authorities Oct. 14.
The government is planning to extradite seven other Colombians held in Bogota.
Peruvian Marcelo Reynoso Aguilar, accused of drug trafficking, was deported Sunday to Peru by the government, secret police sources said Monday.
TV journalist Jorge Enrique Pulido, 43, remained in serious condition Monday with wounds inflicted Sunday afternoon by motorcycle gunmen as he left the Mundovision studio in Bogota, where he was director.