Pubdate: Sun, 22 Apr 2001
Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA)
Copyright: 2001 San Jose Mercury News
Contact:  http://www.sjmercury.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/390
Author: Juan Forero, New York Times
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)

BRAZILIAN SUSPECTED IN DRUG-FOR-GUNS DEALING ARRESTED

BOGOTA, Colombia -- Luiz Fernando da Costa, who officials say is Brazil's 
most notorious cocaine lord, was arrested in the Colombian jungle Saturday 
after a massive hunt by army troops, the armed forces reported Saturday.

Da Costa's arrest came in dramatic fashion, after a Cessna in which he was 
traveling was forced down by a Colombian air force fighter Thursday in 
southeastern Colombia. 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 hunt involving 300 army soldiers 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," the Colombian defense minister, Luis Fernando Ram(acu)rez, said.

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, for cocaine. The rebels have adamantly denied it, saying 
they only 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," Ram(acu)rez 
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."

Ram(acu)rez 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 Saturday afternoon.

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-sized swath of 
territory to the FARC as a 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.

Brazilian law-enforcement officials have said da Costa built a drug empire 
through a mix of street smarts and ruthlessness, rising from a marijuana 
dealer to a major cocaine trafficker linked to guns-for-drugs deals.

Da Costa had escaped from a Brazilian prison soon after being jailed in 
1996, and army officials said that he had been in the Colombian jungle 
since 1999.

Da Costa's last few weeks of freedom, however, were difficult. He had been 
wounded in a gunfight with soldiers and had to have two fingers amputated, 
Ram(acu)rez said.
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