Two soldiers were detained in the northern Colombian department of Norte de Santander for allegedly attempting to sell weapons to the leftist guerrilla group FARC, newspaper El Espectador reported Tuesday.
In an operation conducted after several months of counterintelligence and monitoring, police pulled over a vehicle with Venezuelan plates on the road from Sardinataa to Ocaña, in the west of the department.
The vehicle was reportedly transporting weapons, magazines and cartridges.
Police arrested Alfonso Duran Ramiro Peña and Martin Rodriguez Yañez, both assigned to the Colombian Army’s 30th Brigade, and two other suspects. The soldiers were carrying out the illegal operation during their vacation time, police said.
The capture brings the number of soldiers arrested this year for selling military arms to guerrillas in eastern Colombia up to eight.