COLOMBIA CATCHES BRAZILIAN DRUG LORD

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) -- After forcing down a plane and chasing its
occupants through the jungle, the Colombian military on Saturday captured a
fugitive Brazilian drug lord suspected of trading cash and guns for cocaine
with leftist guerrillas.

The arrest caps a three-month manhunt and could bolster army claims that
the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, is far more involved
in the international drug trade than the rebels have acknowledged.

The army alleges Da Costa leads a ring that brings arms through neighboring
Suriname and ships about $1 million of cocaine to Europe and the United
States every month.

President Andres Pastrana confirmed the arrest from Quebec, where he is
attending the Summit of the Americas. Pastrana is engaged in peace talks
with the FARC, but says his government will never negotiate with drug
traffickers.

"We hope this is good news for the sister republic of Brazil," he said in
comments aired on local radio.

Pastrana said another unidentified Brazilian and "apparently ... one or two
members of the FARC" were captured along with Luiz Fernando Da Costa, the
fugitive Brazilian cocaine lord.

Pastrana said Colombia was considering whether to deport him or keep him to
face possible charges in Colombia.

The military has been on Da Costa's trail since February, when it launched
a huge operation that turned up dozens of clandestine drug laboratories,
rebel camps, coca plantations and evidence of drug sales.

Pastrana said air force fighters on Friday forced down a plane that was
carrying Da Costa and four others who fled into the jungle. About 300
troops scoured the area and eventually apprehended Da Costa.

In a statement issued in Bogota, army chief Gen. Jorge Mora said the
captive admitted to "being the Mafia boss of the neighboring republic of
Brazil."

The army last month reported Da Costa had been caught in army-rebel clashes
and was badly wounded. Pastrana said he had a broken arm and two amputated
fingers.

Rebel ties to the cocaine trade are an explosive issue in Colombia, which
is receiving $1.3 billion in mostly military aid from Washington to fight
illegal drugs.

The rebels admit they "tax" peasant farmers who grow drug crops but deny
they are involved in trafficking cocaine or heroin as some U.S. officials
have charged.

Da Costa escaped jail in Brazil in 1997 and is believed to have lived in
Paraguay before fleeing to Colombia two years ago. A congressional
investigation into his cocaine operations in Brazil has led to the arrests
of police, businessmen and judges.

Elsewhere in Colombia on Saturday, troops reported 18 rebels were killed in
clashes near the northern city of Bucaramanga, high in the Andean
mountains. There were no army casualties, the army said.

Armbands and identification papers found on the dead guerrillas indicated
they were members of three guerrilla groups -- the FARC, the National
Liberation Army, or ELN, and the tiny People's Liberation Army, or EPL --
out on a rare joint operation, Gen. Martin Carreno said.