Colombia extradited seven taxi drivers who were charged with murdering a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent, on Tuesday. Special Agent James “Terry” Watson was stabbed to death after a botched robbery on June 20, 2013. The alleged murderers will stand trial in Virginia.
The taxi drivers were members of a criminal band based in the Bogotá that targeted taxi passengers for robbery. On the night of the murder, the drivers attempted to take Watson on a “millionaire’s ride” or “express kidnapping,” a common scheme in Colombia in which the attackers force the victim to empty their bank accounts at an ATM machine before releasing them.
The alleged murderers were extradited after the U.S. government successfully argued that Watson, who served as an agent for the DEA for 13 years, was an “internationally protected person with diplomatic immunity” under the Vienna Convention and that the trial should take place in the United States.“These citizens were wanted via an Interpol Red Notice for the crimes of aggravated murder, aggravated robbery and conspiracy to commit a crime,” General Ricardo Restrepo, the Colombian anti-narcotics police chief, said. It marks the first mass extradition between the two countries that isn’t related to narcotrafficking.
