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WORLD NEWS Thursday 5 OcTOber 2017

Narco fugitives caught trying to co-opt Colombia peace deal

By JOSHUA GOODMAN Medellin cartel of three de-
Associated Press cades ago because of it
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) sought to dominate the en-
— For years Edison Prado tire cocaine supply chain
was one of the top U.S. from production to its distri-
drug targets in South Amer- bution in the U.S. Police say
ica, having allegedly risen the group dispatched as
from beginnings as a boat- many as 10 go-fast boats
man running drugs in the a week, each carrying
treacherous coastal wa- around a ton of cocaine.
ters of his native Ecuador Prado’s U.S. lawyer de-
to the bloodthirsty head of clined to comment when
a small army of smugglers contacted by The Associ-
spread across five coun- ated Press.
tries. The FARC’s ties to Colom-
So it came as something bia’s flourishing drug under-
of a shock when the man world have always been a
dubbed the high-living sore spot for the rebels. The
Pablo Escobar of Ecua- FARC long funded itself
dor showed up on a list of This photo shows officers escorting a man who police identify as Ecuadorean drug trafficker Edi- by leveling a “war tax” on
hardscrabble leftist rebels son Prado after his April 2017 arrest on an indictment by a Florida federal court. A few months after cocaine moving through
from Colombia. his arrest in a DEA-organized raid, Prado showed up on a list with more than 20 others suspected territory it dominated, and
His case and others like it traffickers wanted for extradition by the U.S. who rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Co- all 50 members of its lead-
are now at the center of lombia, FARC, claimed as jailed members of their now-disbanded insurgency even though they ership structure were in-
a heated debate about have no known history of rebellion. dicted in 2006 in the U.S.
whether powerful drug (Colombia National Police via AP) on charges of running the
capos and other criminals world’s largest drug cartel.
are trying to evade jus- Earlier this year the FARC said the U.S. government use us as a smoke screen to But the FARC always de-
tice by exploiting terms of handed the government a would investigate wheth- cover up a lot of things,” he nied direct involvement in
the government’s peace list of more than 14,000 for- er specific FARC leaders told The Associated Press. the business itself and rebel
treaty with the Revolution- mer guerrillas, jailed rebels — who can be jailed for But many Colombians re- peace negotiators in 2013
ary Armed Forces of Co- and unarmed supporters crimes committed after the main unconvinced. denounced drug traffick-
lombia — allegations that it claims as members, and peace deal’s signing — “If nobody is held account- ing a “scourge” that has
threaten to undermine al- therefore entitled to ben- were selling the spots. able, this will do serious “contaminated” the inter-
ready-shaky efforts to end efits under the peace trea- The former rebel leader damage to the credibility national financial system
a half-century of political ty. But Bogota’s El Tiempo known as Mauricio Jara- of the peace process,” said and generated a global
violence. newspaper reported last millo, who was responsible Adam Isacson, an enthusi- health crisis.
Under the terms of last month that at least 21 peo- for compiling the list, vehe- astic backer of last year’s Colombia’s government
year’s peace deal, FARC ple on the list are actually mently denied the charge, peace deal and an analyst has taken credit for purg-
rebels will be spared jail suspected drug traffickers though he acknowledged at the Washington Office ing the list of the 21 inter-
time in exchange for laying awaiting extradition to the mistakes were made and on Latin America. national fugitives through
down their weapons and U.S., with no known history some criminals managed Prado was arrested in Co- inter-government inves-
confessing their war crimes of rebellion. to weasel their way on. lombia in April on an indict- tigations. They include a
to special peace tribunals. Former rebel leaders He accused the govern- ment by a Florida federal Mexican man indicted by
For thousands of one-time haven’t explained how ment of revealing details court along with three oth- the U.S. in 2015 and be-
FARC members serving those people got on the list from what were supposed er suspected Ecuadorean lieved to be the Zetas car-
long sentences, that’s tan- but the U.S. ambassador to to be private deliberations drug traffickers, all of whom tel’s chief envoy in Colom-
tamount to a get-out-of-jail Colombia, Kevin Whitaker, to weed out impostors, say- the FARC also listed as bia, as well as two brothers
card. told Colombian media this ing it was trying to distract members. Police accused reportedly wanted for ex-
But it can also be a pow- year that imprisoned drug attention from its own prob- the ambitious 35-year-old tradition by Italy for alleg-
erful magnet for fraud in a traffickers paid up to $5 mil- lems, among them a bevy man known as “Gerald” of edly supplying drugs to the
country plagued by pow- lion to be included on the of corruption scandals and running the most sophisti- Calabrian mafia in cahoots
erful drug gangs with a FARC’s rolls, although he a sluggish economy. cated smuggling route on with the FARC’s battlefield
long history of meddling in didn’t say where he ob- “Whenever there’s a prob- the Pacific coast of South enemies, former right-wing
politics. tained that information. He lem in Colombia they try to America, likening it to the paramilitary groups.q