Colombian paramilitary member appears in US court

Diego Alberto Ruiz Arroyave was one of 14 right-wing paramilitaries nabbed in a surprise pre-dawn operation this week and brought to the United States to face charges of supporting a terrorist organization and drug trafficking. Many of the others made their court appearances earlier in New York, Washington, Miami and Tampa, Fla.

During a brief court hearing, Ruiz appeared before a federal magistrate judge on a charge of conspiring to provide material support and resources to the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, known by its Spanish initials, AUC. The U.S. has listed the group a terrorist organization.

A federal magistrate judge scheduled a bond hearing for Ruiz for May 23.

Prosecutor Jeff Vaden said in court that the federal government believes Ruiz is a flight risk and should be denied bail.

Ruiz's attorney, Erik Sunde, declined to comment after the hearing.

The charge stems from an indictment by a federal grand jury in Houston that accuses Ruiz of participating in a scheme to acquire Russian and Eastern European-made weapons for the AUC in exchange for cocaine. The weapons included shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles, rocket propelled grenade launchers and AK-47 assault weapons. The AUC never got any weapons.

Ruiz was one of six men who participated in the plot, the indictment said.

Prosecutors say that from September 2001 until November 2002, the men met in Houston, Mexico City, London, Bogota and other Colombian cities, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Panama and Costa Rica with an undercover police officer and an FBI confidential informant.

Ruiz was allegedly one of the key intermediaries in the deal, according to court documents.

Four of the men indicted with Ruiz have pleaded guilty in the case while another remains a fugitive.