OPERATION BLACK CAT DOCUMENTS COULD BE EVIDENCE US NEEDS TO PROVE FARC-DRUG
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A special U.S. Justice Department prosecutor arrived from Washington on 27
March. He spent three days in Colombia. He held confidential meetings with
Colombian Prosecutor General Alfonso Gomez Mendez, the Military Forces high
command, and high-ranking National Police officers.

The U.S. official's mission was to personally review the documents seized
during Operation Black Cat, which the Army Rapid Deployment Force conducted
in the jungle of Guainia, Guaviare, and Vichada against Tomas Molina
Caracas, aka 'Negro Acacio,' the commander of FARC [Revolutionary Armed
Forces of Colombia] Front 16. The documents discovered by the Colombian
authorities are important because they could provide U.S. authorities with
essential evidence proving FARC' involvement in international cocaine traffic.

The information now available to the U.S. special prosecutor is also in the
hands of high-ranking FBI and DEA officials, and several U.S. lawmakers.

After analyzing and processing this information, the U.S. Government will
request international judicial assistance aimed at formally filing for the
extradition of the commander of Front 16, the leader of one of FARC's main
financial organizations. In other words, the U.S. officials are trying to
prove that this FARC front is involved in a conspiracy to bring cocaine to
the United States. "This is what we want. The only thing we need to file a
request for extradition is evidence proving guerrilla international
involvement in the drug trade to sell drugs abroad," a U.S State Department
source told Semana in Washington. The Operation Where did the evidence that
pitted the U.S. Government against the FARC come from? Everything began on
12 February when General Carlos Fracica, commander of the Rapid Deployment
Force, moved into the jungle of Vichada, Guaviare, and Guainia, leading
3,300 elite troops.

He was going after Tomas Molina Caracas, aka 'Negro Acacio,' the commander
of FARC Front 16. Gen. Fracica left nothing to chance.

He used eight Black Hawk gunships and five Russian-made MI17 helicopters to
deploy his troops.

He set his operational headquarters in Barrancominas, a village in Guainia.
From there he launched what would be later known as Operation Black Cat.

This was the Army's first deployment into the heart of the jungle in
pursuit of a key member of FARC's financial structure.

The mission seemed to be an impossible task given the terrain of the region.

So much so, that Gen. Fracica held a secret meeting with the Army high
command to evaluate the operation and decide whether it was at all
feasible. The results achieved in two months could not have been better.

Gen. Fracica and his troops discovered a huge coca-processing facility made
up of some 80 laboratories spread over 17,000 hectares.

Each laboratory could produce between three and five tons of cocaine base.
They also seized 200 barrels of precursors for coca processing, and
arrested around 20 guerrillas. However, the main treasure uncovered by
Operation Black Cat was a pile of documents which, for the first time,
linked a FARC front to cocaine trade and shed some light on its ties with
international drug rings, particularly with Brazilian, Paraguayan, and
Surinamese drug lords.

Evidence shows that FARC's involvement goes beyond collecting protection
money from coca farmers and producers. It is also involved in the
multimillion international drug traffic. The documents the Army found in
the jungle of Guainia, Guaviare, and Vichada proved this involvement. These
documents, discovered on 4 March, show the link between the FARC and a top
Brazilian drug lord known as Luis Fernando Da Costa, aka Fernandinho.
Brazilian authorities believe that Fernandinho is the overlord of all drug
cartels operating in Rio de Janeiro. According to government officials
Fernandinho escaped from Brazilian drug enforcement agents and sought
shelter in Paraguay under the protection of certain members of General Lino
Oviedo's inner circle.

From Paraguay he got in touch with members of FARC Front 16 and worked out
a profitable deal trading guns for cocaine.

Thus, Fernandinho provided the FARC with a conduit into international drug
trade.

Under pressure from Brazilian drug enforcement forces Fernandino moved to
the Colombian jungle from where he continued his illegal trade.

According to the documents seized by Colombian authorities, Fernandino and
his FARC Front 16 partners sent out seven cocaine shipments totaling 1,900
kilograms worth $7 million in 2000. Net profit from these shipments
amounted to $2 million, that is, over 4 billion pesos.

Gen. Fracica and his men discovered not only documents that prove the link
between FARC Front 16 and one of Brazil's top drug lords.

Operation Black Cat also led to the discovery of a veritable treasure: a
great deal of evidence proving 'Negro Acacio's' involvement in the drug
traffic.

The military seized handwritten notebooks where the guerrillas recorded
drug deals. These documents also proved that FARC Front 16 was trading guns
for weapons. In addition to the documents seized, the testimony of arrested
guerrillas corroborated the existence of close personal and commercial ties
between the guerrilla commander and the Brazilian drug lord. "Fernandino
would say how much cocaine he needed and Acacio would supply it," one of
the captured guerrillas told the prosecutors in charge of the legal aspects
of Operation Black Cat. The Evidence The soldiers spent many days carrying
out cardboard boxes full of documents discovered at FARC Front 16 camps.

These documents were delivered to Army Intelligence units that are still
assessing their contents.

Copies of these documents was sent to Colombian Prosecutor General Alfonso
Gomez Mendez, and will be attached to the files on the cases that the
Office of the Prosecutor General will take to court.

The special U.S. Justice Department prosecutor personally carried the
documents the Army discovered in the Colombian jungle to Washington last
week. This valuable material is now in the hands of U.S. drug enforcement
agencies and certain U.S. senators including the controversial Jesse Helms.
The evidence the Colombian Army uncovered in the course of Operation Black
Cat awakened the interest of U.S. news media.

The prestigious newspaper The Washington Times published a lengthy
front-page report by journalist Steve Salisbury under the rubric "Raids
Uncover Evidence of Colombian Guerrilla Involvement in the drug traffic."
This report came to the attention of high-placed U.S. Government officials
and Washington officials were most impressed by the evidence showing that
the FARC is getting guns for cocaine from Fernandino. In fact, according to
a document mentioned in The Washington Times report, Fernandinho has
delivered to the FARC 543 rifles, including AK-47s and G-3 assault rifles,
and 2,417 pistols in exchange for cocaine. The Washington Times report also
acquainted U.S. officials with the testimony of a captured guerrilla who
claimed that "the FARC is the largest drug cartel of them all. They own it.
They do not control the entire chain because they have no contacts abroad,
but Fernandinho provides these contacts." On the basis of these documents
and testimonies, U.S. officials have concluded that FARC's involvement in
the drug traffic is becoming increasingly obvious and that it goes way
beyond mere collection of protection money from illegal coca farmers.

What Comes Next The involvement of several FARC fronts in the drug traffic
is nothing new. According to Armed Forces intelligence sources, the FARC
has been collecting a percentage from coca farmers and cocaine base
producers since the eighties. There are documents to prove this assertion.

One of them, signed by FARC Commander Rolando Romero, was seized during an
Army raid. It states: "We must visit their businesses and weight the
produce to check the amounts involved, rather than waiting for them to come
and pay us without us knowing how much they produce (...)"

The Military Forces also have other documents -- signed by FARC Commanders
Arturo Medina, Cesar Jaramillo, and Diego Benavides -- proving this
subversive organization's involvement in the drug traffic.

According to documents found in January 1996, the Southern Bloc Jose
Ignacio Mora Front 15 was charging coca farmers and producers in southern
Colombia 25,000 per kilogram of cocaine base and 35,000 pesos per kilogram
of cocaine hydrochloride. Furthermore, it demanded payment of 3 million
pesos for the use of landing strips and 200,000 pesos for each additional
coca plantation over four hectares.

According to Front 15 records, it collected 138 million pesos worth of
protection money from coca plantations and coca processing facilities,
between 15 August and 24 December 1994.

In any case, despite the available evidence, it will not be easy for
Colombian and U.S. authorities to prove that the FARC is deeply involved in
the cocaine traffic.

To begin with, the guerrillas deny this charge, and the Colombian
government has repeatedly refuted reports that the FARC has become a drug
cartel.

So far, the documents seized during Operation Black Cat compromise only
'Negro Acacio' and his men. However, there are people who argue that since
the FARC is a structured organization it is unlikely that Front 16 were
acting on its own. The general staff of this subversive organization was
most likely very much aware of the activities of this front. This means
that not only 'Negro Acacio' but the entire FARC Secretariat is involved in
the drug traffic.

The main challenge of both Colombian and U.S. authorities is to prove that
in addition to controlling domestic coca farming, the FARC is trying to get
into the international drug traffic big league.