Gangster `Jorge 40' dominates testimony (US coal company sued for death squad contracts on workers)

[Judi Lynn]

Source: The Birmingham News

Gangster `Jorge 40' dominates testimony
Saturday, July 21, 2007RUSSELL HUBBARD
News staff writer

The second week of the Drummond trial ended Friday with a former mining supervisor saying he saw a notorious gang leader leaving an office in Colombia that was affiliated with the company.

Victor Marenco said he saw a man known as "Jorge 40" leaving the office of Jaime Blanco, who owned the company that catered meals at Drummond canteens. The man, whose real name is Rodrigo Tovar, commanded a large paramilitary unit in the federal state of Cesar, where Drummond operates a 3,700-employ surface coal mine in a remote area.

"I never saw such a spectacle in all my life," Marenco said of Jorge 40 and his retinue of armed followers.

The Colombian mining union and the families of three labor leaders slain in 2001 are suing Drummond in U.S. District Court in Birmingham. They said in their civil lawsuit the Birmingham-based coal mine operator paid right-wing gunmen to kill the union bosses.

Jorge 40 was a prominent figure in Colombia, whose newspapers and media outlets often feature stories about militia leaders who are known to murder, extort and deal drugs. He is in custody after agreeing in 2006 to fold his 2,500-strong private army in return for a lessened sentence. Later that year, he came again to prominence when police found his notebook computer, which contained details on more than 500 murders he ordered.



Read more: http://www.al.com/business/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/business/1185007690186400.xml&coll=2

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Rodrigo Tovar, "Jorge 40"