Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 12, 1996)
By The Associated Press Edited by Michelle Gamer Friday, Janiiary 12, 1996 Page 2 Drug cartel kingpin escapes BOGOTA, Colombia — One of the top three leaders of the world’s biggest drug gang escaped Thursday from a maximum-security prison in Bogota. Jose Santacruz Londono, a kingpin in the Cali cartel, removed a one-way mirror from an interrogation room and slipped through the opening, appar ently with the help of accomplices, said Norbcrto Pelaez, head of the na tional prison system. He then drove out of the La Picota prison in a getaway car disguised as a prosecutor’s car, officials said. Pros ecutors’ cars are not checked when they enter or leave the prison. RCN radio said his absence was noticed during a 4 p.m. head count. President Ernesto Samper called an emergency meeting of his minis ters Thursday evening to discuss the escape. The assistant chief of police led a team of officers, including an elite squad known as the Search Block, to recapture the drug lord. Police set up roadblocks in some areas and stepped up security at Bogota airports. The national police chief offered a $2 million reward for information lead ing to Santacruz’s recapture, RCN radio reported. “We’re shocked by his escape, but if he was captured once, we can cap ture him a second time,” said Justice Minister Carlos Medellin, who was sworn in Thursday. The escape also is likely to irk U.S. official s, who bel ieve Colombia ’ s jus tice system is too lenient on drug traf fickers. The United States has indicted cartel kingpins, but Colombia’s 1991 constitution forbids extradition of its citizens. Santacruz, 53, was arrested last July 4 in a plush Bogota steak house. He was awaiting trial on charges of illicit enrichment, conspiracy and the murder of a state governor. During a three-month period start ing last June, police put six of the seven leaders ofthc Cali cartel behind bars, including brothers Miguel and Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela, the cartel’s other top leaders. The remaining five were all ac counted for in jail on Thursday, said Miller Rubio, spokesman for the na tional prison system. The other drug kingpin at large is Helmer Herrera, who is believed to head the cartel’s military wing. Santacruz, known as “Chepe,” was believed responsible for consolidat ing the carter’s distribution network in New York years ago. He has also been linked to the New York murder ofjoumalist Manuel de Dios Unanue, who was investigating cartel opera tions in the city. Santacruz was involved with the Rodriguez brothers in the late 1960s in a gang accused of kidnapping two Swiss citizens for ransom. They were later released. Known in those days as “the Stu dent” because he had studied engi neering, Santacruz went into the con struction business and is said to own thousands of apartments in Cali and hundreds of rural properties. In the 1980s, Santacruz used his immense wealth to build a full-size replica of an elite Cali social club after its members refused to admit him. The Cali cartel is responsible for most of the cocaine distributed in the world. A keepsake book ^ every Husker fan will want! This glossy, full-color book is packed with photos and stories gathered by Nebraska’s largest sports staff. Each page builds toward the challenging and thrilling drive to a second consecutive national championship. This commemorative book samples a few of the more than 500 stories the Omaha World-Herald sports staff wrote during the Cornhuskers’ season — from the 1995 opener with Oklahoma State to the Fiesta Bowl victory. Exciting photos taken by our World-Herald team of photographers also highlight spectacular Husker moments in this 8K'” x 11” glossy book. Back to Back Champions is a keepsake Cornhusker fans will cherish for years to come. ■ [; Thes-e, is a Ji^e^encc, rwrsisrswTSF7W^ 13th & Q Street • 476-0111 Gateway Mall inside Ben Simons • 434-7440 Clinton suggests delaying Medicare fix until fall WASHINGTON —- President Clinton outlined a possible split verdict Thursday for budget talks with Republicans, suggesting the two sides settle on an overall plan for erasing deficits while submit ting major policy decisions on Medicare and Medicaid to the vot ers next fall. “We should not make the per fect the enemy of the good,” Clinton told reporters at a full-dress news conference, his first of the 1996 campaign year. “We should agree on everything we can,” he added. Clinton repeatedly expressed optimism that an overall balanced budget accord was within reach af ter 50 hours of face-to-face talks with Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole and House Speaker Newt Gingrich. The next session is sched uled for Wednesday at the White House. “... I know we have come too far to let this opportunity slip away,” he said. “Whether Medicaid should be a block grant instead of a guarantee from the nation to our poor and disabled children and to seniors in nursing homes, that’s something I think could be deferred to the elec tion.” “I knoiv we have come too far to let this opportunity slip away. ” BILL CLINTON President Gingrich did not reply directly to Clinton’s suggestion when he held a rebuttal news conference a few moments later in Seattle, Wash. Instead, he sharply criticized the president for accusing the GOP of seeking deep cuts in Medicare and Medicaid. “I found it a disappointing press conference, a press conference that I think did not help get to a balanced budget at all,” he said, although he added he expected the talks to re sume as scheduled next week. Using an easel and oversized paper to illustrate his points, the Georgia Republican said spending on Medicare and Medicaid would each rise substantially over seven years in the most recent Republican budget offer. Your PC can take notes for as low as $99! The WordWand is like a highlighter hooked up to your PC. Whatever you "highlight" on the printed page drops into your PC as if you had typed it. Try the WordWand at the Architecture Library, 308 Architecture Hall. r — — — — — — — — — — i i Submit this coupon with your ■ I order to receive an intro- I I ductory $100 discount on the | | purchase of any WordWand. | | For sales information: | I http://www.wordwand.com | - info@wordwand.com J 800-385-WAND (9263) | Expires 2/28/96 500 | L — ■-■»■■■» - J Manatees still dying off despite group efforts RIVIERA BEACH, Fla.—Just off U.S. 1, in a run-down neighborhood dominated by the smokestacks and humming blue coils of a power plant, Reade Gilbert presses his face against a chain-link fence and points at Florida’s primeval past. “There he is!” cries Reade, 6, as a manatee comes up for air. “Look at Iris nose, his nose!” * - In the winter, manatee-watching is a popular pastime around Florida’s power plants and mineral springs. Despite federal, state and local ef forts, the beasts are dying off at a high rate. Statistics released last week showed that 9 percent of the known popula tion, or 201 manatees, died in 1995, the second-highest number of deaths since the state began counting the ani mals in 1974. At least 42 of the deaths were at tributed to boats, which gash the ani mals with their propellers or drown them by colliding with them. Nebraskan Editor J. Christopher Hain 472-1766 Managing Editor Doug Kouma Assoc. News Editors Matt Waite Sarah Scalet Opinion Page Editor Doug Peters Wire Editor Michelle Garner Copy Desk Editor Tim Pearson Sports Editor Mitch Sherman Arts & Entertainment Editor Jeff Randall Photo Director Staci McKee Night News Editors Rebecca Oltmans Melanie Branded Anne Hjersman Beth Narans http://www.unl.edu/DailyNeb/ FAX NUMBER 472-1761 The Daily Nebraskan(USPS 144-080) is published by the UNL Publications Board, Nebraska Union 34, 1400 R St., Lincoln, NE 68588-0448, Monday through Friday during the academic year; weekly during summer sessions. Readers are encouraged to submit story ideas and comments to the Daily Nebraskan by phoning 472-1763 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The public also has access to the Publications Board. For information, contact Tim Hedegaard, 436 9253, 9 a.m.-11 p.m. Subscription price is $50 for one year. Postmaster: Send address changes to the Daily Nebraskan, Nebraska Union 34,1400 R St.,Lincoln, NE 68588-0448. Second-class postage paid at Lincoln, NE. ALL MATERIAL COPYRIGHT _1995 DAILY NEBRASKAN_