Pubdate: Mon, 23 Apr 2001 Source: New York Times (NY) Copyright: 2001 The New York Times Company Contact: http://www.nytimes.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298 Author: Juan Forero COLOMBIAN ARMY SAYS REBELS HELPED FUGITIVE DRUG LORD MARANDUA AIR FORCE BASE, Colombia, April 22 — With hundreds of Colombian troops in close pursuit, Luiz Fernando da Costa, Brazil's biggest cocaine dealer, raced across 150 miles of jungle with help from Colombia's biggest rebel group before being captured on Saturday, top army officials said today. After Mr. da Costa's two months on the run, his dash to freedom ended not far from this military outpost near the Venezuelan border. Today, military officials hailed the capture, saying the Colombian Army had dismantled a sophisticated operation in which Mr. da Costa funneled arms to the rebels in exchange for a steady flow of cocaine that he then smuggled into Brazil and beyond. But officials fell short of calling the rebels, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, a drug cartel. It underscored the delicate relationship between military officials, who believe the rebels have been granted too many concessions, and a president who has staked his office on reaching a peaceful settlement with the rebels to end Colombia's 37-year-long conflict. In Canada today at the Summit of the Americas, President Bush expressed solidarity with Colombia's struggle against cocaine producers. He said President Andres Pastrana is a strong leader. "It's going to be up to President Pastrana to make the peace," Mr. Bush said. "Once he does, we'll stand by his side." Mr. da Costa, 33, who went from running drugs in a slum to become Brazil's most notorious drug cartel chief, denied working with the rebels when he was paraded before television cameras. "I don't have connections with the FARC," he said. "The FARC did not protect me." Military officials who have been tracking Mr. da Costa said his association with the rebel group, which was apparently solidified when he moved to Colombia in 1999 to escape Brazilian justice, resulted in the transportation of thousands of sophisticated arms through the jungle to the rebels. In return, Mr. da Costa was permitted to transport cocaine by air and sea to the heart of Brazil, to be smuggled on to Europe and the United States. The rebel group has said it taxes coca cultivation and other aspects of the coca trade but does not traffic in drugs. And some drug experts and government officials here and elsewhere say they have not seen evidence that the group is a drug-trafficking operation. The army's effort to dismantle Mr. da Costa's operation and capture him began on Feb. 12, when troops raided a series of coca-producing laboratories and arrested several Brazilians. Mr. da Costa escaped, but on Feb. 18 he was wounded in a shootout with troops at a farm the military said belongs to Tomas Molina, a rebel leader. Army officials said Mr. da Costa, with a handful of rebels, melded into the jungle, traveling by small river boats and on foot. Eventually, the army lost contact with him. Then, on Thursday, a Cessna plane in which Mr. da Costa was traveling was forced down by a Colombian OV- 10 air force plane. He fled on foot with four other men. One of the men, Nicasio Angulo, identified as a rebel, was caught on Friday. And then on Saturday, exhausted and wounded from three gunshot wounds suffered in February, Mr. da Costa was arrested, along with a Brazilian bodyguard. The military said the two who escaped were also rebels. - --- MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart