A COLOMBIAN has told a court how he saw gangsters garrotte his friend with a chain on farmland near High Wycombe.

Luis Morales, 33, told a jury at the Old Bailey how Hernan Mora, 42, was killed at Skimmers Orchard Farm, in Amersham Road, Hazlemere, on July 5, 1997 by a drugs gang who said he owed them $500,000.

The court has heard how Hever Morales and Zoran Vujovic kidnapped drug smuggler Luis Morales from his home in London and took him to the farm.

And it is alleged that boss Wilson Cardenaz lured the victim to the farm where he found Luis Morales tied up to a chair.

Luis Morales said Cardenaz asked Mora for the money but he refused to pay it a number of times.

He said: "Then Wilson said something like kill him'."

After tying Mora to a chair, the two men put a bag over his head to asphyxiate him, the court heard.

Luis Morales added: "But he wasn't dying quickly so they wrapped up his head in cling film.

"He still wasn't dying. So they put a chain round his neck and then with the handle of the shovel they did a tourniquet on him from behind.

"They kept tightening the tourniquet until he died."

Luis Morales was freed after he arranged for his girlfriend to hand over $80,000.

Hever Morales, 29, of Chingford and Zoran Vujovic, 40, of no fixed abode, are both accused of kidnapping the men and murdering Mr Mora.

They both deny murder, two charges of kidnapping and two of false imprisonment.

Attempts are being made to extradite Wilson Cardenaz from the Netherlands, jurors were told. The trial continues.