Colombian authorities seized weapons allegedly set to be sold to FARC from recently captured drug lord “El Loco Barrera,” local media reported Monday.
According to police, the seizure included 42 assault rifles and seven grenade launchers that were headed for Colombia’s largest guerrilla group’s Eastern Bloc in the Guainia and Guaviare departments.
Police intercepted a truck heading to Villavicencio, a small municipality outside of Bogota, where they found 1,100 .50 caliber cartridges capable of attacking aircrafts and helicopters. Police captured an individual identified as Alvaro Florez, alias “El Viejo,” and discovered 50 frag grenades hidden in a secret fuel tank.
Barrera was extradited from Venezuela to his native Colombia in November and faces charges of murder, kidnapping, drug trafficking, money laundering, and ordering forced disappearances.
Barrera reportedly used FARC guerrillas and paramilitaries to transport tons of cocaine to the US and Europe in exchange for weapons prior to his capture.