A reader has pointed out something that I should have been more clear about here: turning over assets is not an uncommon way for big dealers to avoid prosecution in the United States, and it is legal for prosecutors to drop charges based on this. In addition to cash and assets seized in raids this is a major source of funding for the drug war within U.S. borders.

What is unique here is both the enormous amount of money involved, and that this has apparently so far never been offered as a way out for any other Colombian traffickers. In addition, the U.S. signed a 1998 agreement to share all the assets it confiscates from drug traffickers with the Colombian government. And yet the U.S. chose to keep both the deal and the money a secret.

One of the reasons the U.S. chose to keep the deal secret was probably because it would make the country look even softer on traffickers than the Colombian state. In the mid-80s Pablo Escobar and others tried to turn over assets to avoid prosecution or extradition to the U.S., but the Colombian government turned them down in the face of public outcry.

Even if there were no hidden motives for keeping the Rodríguez family off the stand, it seems strange that the U.S. would go about things in this way. And at the very least, it is a striking example of how money talks in the drug war. There are no $4 million checks for living “with dignity” for anyone who really needs it in this war.