Colombian drug lord suspect willing to go to US

SAO PAULO, Aug 10 (Reuters) A Colombian man who authorities say is one of Latin America's biggest drug traffickers wants to be extradited to the United States from a Brazilian jail and is willing to cooperate with US anti-drug agents, his lawyer says.

Juan Carlos Ramirez Abadia was grabbed in a dawn police raid on Tuesday and is being held in custody in Sao Paulo pending the processing of an extradition request.

Brazilian and US authorities say he is responsible for shipping thousands of tonnes of cocaine to the United States and Europe. He also oversaw a business empire that laundered the profits in Brazil, long a favorite hiding spot for fugitives.

His lawyer, Sergio Alambert, was quoted yesterday as saying Ramirez Abadia wanted to cooperate with the US Drug Enforcement Administration.

''My client asked that I contact the DEA and show his willingness to collaborate. Two DEA agents are questioning him in the jail,'' Alambert told O Estado de S.Paulo newspaper.

Ramirez Abadia wanted to be extradited to the United States but he hoped to cut a deal for a maximum 30-year sentence to avoid the death penalty, he said.

In a 2004 indictment issued by a grand jury in Washington, Ramirez Abadia was accused of shipping about 500 tonnes of cocaine worth more than 10 billion dollars from Colombia to the United States between 1990 and 2004.

US Embassy spokesman Richard Mei said the extradition request was working its way through the formal process. Brazil might want to put Ramirez Abadia -- who is nicknamed Chupeta, or Lollipop -- on trial for money-laundering and Colombia could try to bring him back to face justice there.

Mei could not confirm that the DEA was already questioning him or that US agents took part in Tuesday's operation.

''The operation is an example of the way the DEA and Brazilian authorities work together all the time. This one paid off big time,'' he said.

Police and media reports detailed a business empire run by Ramirez Abadia that included property, car dealerships, import and export companies, even a jet-ski store on a busy Sao Paulo avenue.

He was trying to set up an air taxi company to help facilitate his business operations, they said.

Ramirez Abadia, 44, and his wife lived in luxury in a million-dollar mansion in a Sao Paulo suburb but they kept a low profile. The house had 10 televisions, a gym and swimming pool, and six cars, Folha de S.Paulo newspaper said.

Neighbors said he was a man of few words and always wore sunglasses and a cap when he went out cycling with his wife.

Staff at a plastic surgery office in a posh neighborhood where he had operations to change his appearance told Estado they had no idea about his background and he was always kind and polite.

US authorities have described him as extremely violent and Brazilian police said he was behind at least 15 murders in the United States and more than 300 in Colombia.

Reuters AK DB0854