BOGOTA (Reuters) – Three sons of a former boss of Colombia’s Cali drug cartel have been arrested along with more than 20 other people on charges of money laundering, authorities said yesterday.

Houses, apartments and buildings in several Colombian cities were seized in the operation involving the national police, state prosecutors and the US Drug Enforcement Administration, police said.

Among those arrested were the sons of Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela who, along with his brother Miguel, ran the huge Cali cocaine cartel until they negotiated their surrender and were extradited to the United States in 2005.

The Cali cartel, based out of the city by that name, once fought for control of Colombia’s drug trade with the Medellin cartel, which was led by cocaine kingpin Pablo Escobar until his death in December 1993. The Medellin cartel eventually fell apart after Escobar’s death and Cali become dominant.