The Colombian Director of National Police, General Oscar Naranjo, confirmed that FARC commander Gildardo Garcia Cardona, alias “Alirio Rojas,” will be deported from Venezuela to Colombia, newspaper El Espectador reported Thursday.
Between 1998 and 2005, the captured rebel allegedly oversaw the production and distribution of tens of tons of cocaine into the United States, which earned him a spot on the U.S. Justice Department’s 50 most wanted guerrillas.
In 2008, the Prosecutor General’s Office seized over $25 million from Cardona, after which he fled to Venezuela under a different alias, “Claren Augusto Wilson Tomas,” and entered into the services of Bogota drug lord, Daniel “El Loco” Barrera.
Cardona led the FARC’s 27th, 33rd and 43rd Fronts during more than 35 years in the organization. He was captured on October 25 this year in Merida, Venezuela.
According to authorities, Cardona had fled Colombia because he allegedly stole a large sum of money intended to finance FARC drug trafficking activities.