Colombian authorities have released information on a computer seized from the commander of the FARC’s Southern Bloc, Jose Benito Cabrera, alias “Fabian Ramirez,” allegedly showing rebel links with the Sinaloa Cartel.
The government claimed to have killed Cabrera during “Operation Nemesis,” an aerial bombardment of a FARC camp in the southern province of Caqueta on November 20. However, the rebel leader’s body has not been recovered, although his computer was unearthed.
Among the computer files decrypted were documents stating that a Mario Sanchez Zavaleta was the liasion for the Marxist rebels with the Sinaloa cartel. Cocaine shipments were allegedly sent directly to the Mexican cartel or via Panama and Costa Rica.
El Tiempo also published photos (one of which is above) allegedly taken from the seized laptops, showing Cabrera drinking and celebrating with other rebel troops supposedly after selling a “big shipment” of cocaine. The photos also show Sanchez Zavaleta, the alleged link between the Southern Bloc and the Sinaloa cartel.
Intelligence from the laptops also reportedly name Wilson Burbano Ordoñez, a confidant of Cabrera’s, as another key business link with the Mexican cartels. He was arrested in 2009.
The FARC has been linked to the Tijuana and Juarez Cartels. This is the first Colombian authorities have spoken of the rebels’ connection to the Sinaloa Cartel.
Mexican drug trafficking organizations have sought out the FARC in order to purchase coca paste, the raw material for cocaine, at the source, thereby controlling almost the entire chain of distribution and a greater sum of its profits.