18 March 2002

U.S. Indicts Members of Colombian Guerrilla Group for Drug Trafficking

Washington -- The United States has indicted members of a Colombian guerrilla group for conspiracy to import cocaine into the United States, and for manufacturing and distributing cocaine in Colombia with the intent of exporting it to the United States, U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft announced.

In a March 18 news conference, Ashcroft said the indictment charges three members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) for drug trafficking, along with four other men, including three Brazilian nationals. The FARC is listed on the State Department's Foreign Terrorist Organization List, Ashcroft said, adding that the department has called the FARC the most dangerous international terrorist group based in the Western Hemisphere.

Ashcroft said the indictment marks the convergence of two of the top priorities of his agency: "the prevention of terrorism and the reduction of illegal drug use." The "nexus" between terrorism and drug trafficking, Ashcroft said, is one that needs to be understood by people in the United States. The attorney general argued that anyone who buys illicit drugs, such as cocaine or heroin, is supporting terrorism.

Since 1980, according to the State Department, FARC has murdered 13 people from the United States, and kidnapped over 100 more, including three U.S. missionaries kidnapped in 1993 who are now believed to be dead.

The indictment alleges that Tomas Molina Caracas, a FARC commander, functioned as leader of the group's drug-trafficking activities. Between 1994 and 2001, Molina and other FARC members effectively controlled the remote Colombian village of Barranco Minas near the Venezuelan border, said Ashcroft.

Ashcroft said he believes that the indictment marks the first time the United States has charged FARC members with drug trafficking.

U.S. Drug Enforcement Administrator Asa Hutchinson said at the news conference that the FARC was trafficking drugs not only to the United States, but to other countries, including Suriname, Paraguay, Mexico, and Spain. FARC leaders used the drug trade to acquire weapons, cash and equipment for FARC operations, Hutchinson said.

Meanwhile, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said that while a "new situation" exists in Colombia that will require the U.S. to seek legal means to respond to terrorism in that country, the Bush Administration will continue to observe the limits placed by the U.S. Congress on aid to that Andean nation.

Boucher told reporters that he wanted to make it "absolutely clear -- and this is one point not picked up" by some members of the media -- "that we will continue to observe the requirements" by Congress on limits placed on U.S. civilian and military personnel in Colombia, and on preventing U.S. aid to Colombian military units whose members violate human rights.

Speaking at his regular noon briefing March 15, Boucher said the Bush Administration has been consulting with Congress about the "new situation" in Colombia following Colombian President Andres Pastrana's February 20 decision to end his longstanding efforts to conduct peace negotiations with the FARC.

Pastrana's decision, said Boucher, "has put a new focus on counter-terrorism in Colombia." Colombian efforts to stop guerrilla activity within its borders are not part of the global war on terrorism, he said, but terrorist attacks are a "serious threat to Colombia's democratic institutions."

The spokesman said the Bush Administration seeks to "respond more fully to Colombian requests for support in defending democracy." Members of Congress have expressed support for the administration's goals in Colombia, Boucher said, "but asked that we not stretch" current counter-narcotics aid to support other new missions in that country. Therefore, Boucher continued, "we determined to seek new and more explicit legal authorities" for aid to Colombia by the Departments of State and Defense to support that country's "unified campaign against narcotics trafficking, terrorist activities and other threats to its national security." Boucher said that if "we get these authorities, that will put us in a position to consider some of the additional requests from Colombia, such as using existing U.S. equipment or U.S.-trained brigades in a joint role against [illicit] narcotics and terrorism."

Boucher said the Bush Administration will "review carefully" any additional requests from Colombia for counter-terrorism support, and "we'll consult with our Congress as we address these issues."

The spokesman said the United States has equipped and trained Colombian brigades, whose duty it is to protect counter-narcotics operations. If the United States gets expanded authority from Congress, he said, "we would be able to consider allowing [personnel] to be used in other roles."