Bogota – A Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, guerrilla commander who proposed trading three Americans he was holding hostage for rebels extradited to the United States was captured by police in southern Colombia, officials said.
Lucas Medina Triviño was arrested in Neiva, the capital of the southern province of Huila, along with nine other people, Dijin police agency Gen. Oscar Naranjo said.
Medina was involved in the kidnapping of former Congressman Jaime Lozada, who was murdered in December 2005, the general said.
The rebel commander was in charge of the FARC’s drug-trafficking operations in southern Colombia, Naranjo said.
Medina received the ransom payments from Lozada’s family and handled the leftist rebel group’s finances in the region, Naranjo said.
The ANNP police news service, meanwhile, reported that Medina had offered to exchange the three Americans being held by the FARC for three guerrillas who were extradited to the United States, including “Simon Trinidad,” whose real name is Ricardo Palmera, and “Comandante Sonia,” whose real name is Omaira Rojas Cabrera.
Rojas, who was accused of managing the insurgents’ drug operations, was extradited to the United States in March 2005.
Palmera was extradited Dec. 31, 2004, to faces charges of drug trafficking, hostage taking and aiding terrorist activities.
The leftist rebel group is still believed to be holding three Americans, who were monitoring illegal coca crops, hostage.
On Feb. 13, 2003, Keith Stansell, Thomas Howes and Marc Gonsalves, who were working for a U.S. defense contractor, were kidnapped after the FARC shot down their plane in southern Colombia.
Two others in their crew, American Thomas Janis and Colombian Sgt. Luis Alcides Cruz, were killed by FARC rebels while trying to escape.
According to the government, the FARC has kidnapped some 1,000 people. Some human rights groups, however, put the number at 3,000 to 5,000.
Among the hostages being held by the FARC are 22 civilians, 34 soldiers and police, and the three DynCorp employees.
The FARC has been holding some of its hostages for more than seven years and for some time has wanted to exchange them for about 500 guerrillas currently in government prisons.
The U.S. government is offering a reward of $5 million for the FARC rebels who kidnapped the DynCorp employees.
The FARC, Colombia’s oldest and largest leftist guerrilla group, was founded in 1964, has nearly 20,000 members and is still led by 74-year-old founder Pedro Antonio Marin, who is known as “Sureshot.”
Drug trafficking, extortion and kidnapping-for-ransom are the FARC’s main means of financing its operations.
The FARC is on both the U.S. and EU lists of terrorist groups.
