Pubdate: Sun, 22 Apr 2001 Source: San Diego Union Tribune (CA) Copyright: 2001 Union-Tribune Publishing Co. Contact: http://www.uniontrib.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/386 Author: Juan Forero, New York Times News Service NOTORIOUS COCAINE BOSS IS CAPTURED He's Arrested After Colombian Manhunt BOGOTA, Colombia -- Luiz Fernando da Costa, who rose from a slum-dwelling drug peddler to become Brazil's most notorious cocaine kingpin, was arrested in the Colombian jungle yesterday after a huge manhunt by army troops, the armed forces reported. Da Costa's arrest came in dramatic fashion, after a Cessna in which he was traveling Thursday in southeastern Colombia was forced down by a Colombian air force fighter. Da Costa fled on foot with four other men, and the pilot of the plane later identified one of the men as da Costa. That triggered a manhunt involving 300 army troops who eventually cornered him in Vichada province near the Venezuelan border. "I would say he is one of the most important narco-traffickers in the world," said the Colombian defense minister, Luis Fernando Ramirez. "He is the Pablo Escobar of Brazil." Top Colombian army officials have insisted that da Costa, 33, had been selling arms to leftist rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, in exchange for cocaine. The rebels have adamantly denied it, saying they merely tax drug-trafficking operations. The arrest was the culmination of a two-month anti-narcotics effort in southeastern Colombia that army officials say highlighted connections between da Costa's organization and the FARC. In February, the army arrested several Brazilians and confiscated documents that officials said showed how the rebels received arms from da Costa in exchange for a Brazilian-bound shipment of cocaine. "This was successful because we were able to break apart the operation that the FARC and 'Fernandinho' have had in that part of the country," Ramirez said, referring to da Costa by his nickname. "I think this is the beginning of the end of those cartels operating on the frontier of Brazil," he said. "This will be a serious blow against the rebels' finances." Ramirez said one of the four men, who was arrested Friday, was a member of the FARC. Another, a Brazilian identified as a drug trafficker, was arrested with da Costa. The other two were still at large yesterday. The army's revelations are sure to be uncomfortable for President Andres Pastrana, who has said in the past that he would break off peace negotiations with the FARC if hard evidence shows the group is a narco-trafficking organization. Pastrana has come under heavy criticism from the military and much of Colombian society for his handling of peace negotiations with the 37-year-old rebel group. In 1998, he ceded a Switzerland-size swath of territory to the FARC as a safe haven for peace talks, but the talks have faltered and the FARC is accused of planning attacks, hiding kidnap victims and cultivating coca inside the zone. - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D