By Jeremy McDermott BBC News, Medellin

Gilberto was called the chess player for his ability to outwit opponents

They are dismantling the criminal empire of brothers Gilberto and Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela.

The men headed the Cali drug cartel - once the world's most sophisticated organised-crime syndicates - until their arrest in 1995.

The assets total $200m and include properties, vehicles, planes, companies and even a chain of pharmacies - all belonging to the brothers or front men.

The 3,000 assets are being seized by some 3,000 police and 460 prosecutors.

New legislation

The current President Alvaro Uribe passed legislation making it easier for the state to seize and sell assets believed to come from the profits of drugs trafficking.

The total value of the assets being targeted is over $200m - money the president desperately needs to fill a gaping hole in his budget.

The ordeal for the Rodriguez Orejuela brothers may not be over yet. The US, which has long wanted to get its hands on the two, is presenting extradition orders for them.

When the brothers were arrested in 1995, extradition was outlawed by the Colombian constitution.

That has changed, and the US authorities now have a case file showing the brothers allegedly continued their criminal activities from prison, and so can now be extradited.