Drug lord identified via voice recognition technology

Published on Saturday 11 August 2007 00:34

A REPUTED leader of Colombia's biggest drug cartel, his features radically altered by plastic surgery, was finally identified using advanced voice recognition technology.

Brazilian police had difficulty identifying Juan Carlos Ramirez Abadia while they investigated a money laundering scheme he orchestrated while in hiding in the country, but got a break after taping his telephone conversations and passing that information to the US Drug Enforcement Agency, said Abadia's lawyer, Sergio Alambert.

The recording was compared with other tapes of Abadia's voice, leading to a match that allowed Brazilian police to identify him, Mr Alambert said.

Abadia was arrested this week in a luxurious home on the outskirts of So Paulo. Nearly $1 million (490,000) in cash was found at the property. Authorities found another $1 million buried in the garden of another home near So Paulo.

Mr Alambert said Abadia, 44, who arrived illegally in Brazil four years ago, acknowledges using profits from cocaine shipments by his Norte del Valle cartel to make investments in Brazil.

But Abadia told his lawyer he left Colombia for Brazil because he feared he might be killed by rival drug gang members and was not involved in any drug trafficking in Brazil.