Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela, former boss of Colombia's Cali drugs cartel, appeared in a Miami federal courtroom on Monday to face charges of cocaine trafficking and money-laundering. Mr Rodriguez, 65, is the most powerful Colombian trafficker ever to face US justice. He was extradited at the weekend. The US Drug Enforcement Administration calculates that his empire once supplied 80 per cent of cocaine to the US and generated annual profits of $8bn (€6bn, £4bn).

His extradition is being hailed officially as a spectacular example of ever more effective co-operation between the US and Colombia and evident progress in the war against illegal drugs.