Pubdate: Tue, 20 Feb 2001 Source: Agence France-Presses Copyright: AFP 2001 Author: Jose Ramos Note: The army's operation coincided with the visit to Colombia of US Drug Enforcement Agency chief Donnie Marshall and a group of US lawmakers seeking information on Plan Colombia, President Andres Pastrana's peace, antidrug and economic- development effort COLOMBIAN GENERAL CLAIMS PROOF OF REBEL TRAFFICKING BOGOTA Colombia's military chief of staff General Fernando Tapias said Monday he has further proof of arms-for-drugs links between leftist rebels and international cocaine traffickers, after the arrest of 22 people, including a close ally of a major Brazilian drug lord. The 3,000 soldiers participating in "Operation Black Cat" also seized 2,812 weapons, 78 vehicles, satellite telephones and 75,000 dollars in cash over the past several days in jungle areas controlled by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known by its Spanish initials FARC. Authorities said soldiers had destroyed 11 cocaine-producing laboratories and a rebel camp capable of holding 500 people, and found 10,000 hectares (24,710 acres) of drug crops. "One more time we have unveiled the guerrilla-narcotrafficking combination. The FARC has a coca and cocaine empire (in the Colombian jungle), and from there cargo planes leave with drugs and return full of arms," Tapias said. Among those captured in "Operation Black Cat" was Jacqueline Alcantara de Morais, considered the girlfriend and second-in-command of Brazilian drug lord Luiz Fernando da Costa, known as Fernandinho Beira Mar. She and six other Brazilians were caught Thursday near Colombia's border with Brazil in an area where FARC is known to operate, authorities said. Colombian military authorities said FARC leader Tomas Molina Caracas has established an illegal drugs-for-arms operation with links to traffickers in Colombia, Peru, Bolivia and Brazil, including Fernandinho Beira Mar. Molina Caracas, also known as "El Negro Acacio," also was accused last year by Peruvian authorities of negotiating the purchase of 10,000 Kalashnikov rifles through fugitive ex-spy chief Vladimiro Montesinos. Colombia is the world's leading producer of cocaine and exports 90 percent of its annual 520-tonne production to the United States. The army's operation coincided with the visit to Colombia of US Drug Enforcement Agency chief Donnie Marshall and a group of US lawmakers seeking information on Plan Colombia, President Andres Pastrana's peace, antidrug and economic-development effort. The United States has pledged 1.3 billion dollars in support for Plan Colombia, which will cost a total of 7.5 billion dollars. Colombian and US authorities have claimed the FARC is nothing more than a drug cartel masquerading as a liberation movement and that the group shields drug traffickers in the 42,000 square kilometer (16,200 square mile) demilitarized zone in southern Colombia ceded to them in November 1998 to promote peace. Rebel leaders did not immediately comment on Tapias' accusations, but in the past they have denied direct involvement in the cocaine trade. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth