HomeNewsBriefClosing in on FARC Commander
BRIEF

Closing in on FARC Commander

ALFONSO CANO / 22 MAR 2011 BY JEREMY MCDERMOTT EN

Colombia's defense minister stated that the rebel supreme leader will fall soon, after his security chief was killed by the army. The death of Arquimides Muñoz, alias ‘Jeronimo’ (photo), will certainly leave exposed Guillermo Leon Saenz Vargas, alias 'Alfonso Cano,’ the commander-in-chief of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia - FARC). The question is whether the FARC will begin to fragment should Cano be killed, becoming little more than a series of very powerful drug cartels with no ideology.

  • La Republica reported that 18 Peruvian antinarcotics police are under investigation for working with drug traffickers in the strategic Valley of the Apurimac and Ene River (known by its Spanish acronym VRAE). The VRAE is not only important as a centre of coca production, which is on the rise in Peru, but as a stronghold of the rebel Shining Path Movement, which appears to be growing again, flush with funds from drug trafficking.
  • Venezuela has captured six suspected of trafficking drugs to the U.S., Colombia, and Holland, reported the Associated Press. Among those extradited is Gloria Rojas Valencia, accused of being a member of the Mexican Zetas cartel, suggesting that the Mexicans are reaching into Venezuela, a crucial transit nation for Colombian cocaine heading towards Europe. While Venezuela has been criticized by the U.S. for not collaborating in the war on drugs, it has made a series of significant arrests, particularly of Colombian traffickers, and has not hesitated to extradite suspects.
    share icon icon icon

    Was this content helpful?

    We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

    DONATE

    What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

    We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

    Was this content helpful?

    We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

    DONATE

    Related Content

    COLOMBIA / 8 FEB 2022

    A move by the ELN to expand its control along the banks of the Orinoco River in Venezuela appears to…

    COLOMBIA / 23 MAY 2022

    A reconfiguration of the groups that control micro-trafficking in Colombia’s capital city is responsible for the series of macabre homicides…

    BRAZIL / 6 JAN 2022

    The dismantling of a gang trafficking marijuana and cocaine from Colombia to Brazil has revealed greater connections between organized crime…

    About InSight Crime

    THE ORGANIZATION

    Venezuela Coverage Receives Great Reception

    27 MAY 2023

    Several of InSight Crime’s most recent articles about Venezuela have been well received by regional media. Our article on Venezuela’s colectivos expanding beyond their political role to control access to…

    THE ORGANIZATION

    InSight Crime's Chemical Precursor Report Continues

    19 MAY 2023

    For the second week in a row, our investigation into the flow of precursor chemicals for the manufacture of synthetic drugs in Mexico has been cited by multiple regional media…

    THE ORGANIZATION

    InSight Crime’s Chemical Precursor Report Widely Cited

    THE ORGANIZATION / 12 MAY 2023

    We are proud to see that our recently published investigation into the supply chain of chemical precursors feeding Mexico’s synthetic drug production has been warmly received.

    THE ORGANIZATION

    InSight Crime’s Paraguay Election Coverage Draws Attention 

    5 MAY 2023

    InSight Crime looked at the various anti-organized crime policies proposed by the candidates in Paraguay’s presidential election, which was won on April 30 by Santiago Peña. Our pre-election coverage was cited…

    THE ORGANIZATION

    InSight Crime Cited in OAS, CARICOM Reports

    28 APR 2023

    This week, InSight Crime’s work was cited nine times in a new report by the Organization of American States (OAS) titled “The Impact of Organized Crime on Women,…