A man suspected of being a link between Colombia’s largest guerrilla group the FARC and the Spanish terrorist group ETA has been captured in Caucasia, Antioquia department, and is to be extradited to Spain, local media reported on Saturday.
Victor Ramon Vargas Salazar, alias “Chato” a member of the support network of the Caribbean Bloc of the FARC and the mobile column “Teofilo Forero” will be extradited to Spain to face terrorist charges.
He has also been linked to the Basque based terrorist organization ETA where he allegedly coordinated terrorist actions with the ETA against current Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos and past presidents Alvaro Uribe and Andres Pastrana.
According to Colombian authorities, Chato was one of the leading providers of logistics to the Caribbean bloc of the FARC. He was responsible for supplying arms, ammunition and false documents for guerrillas in the faction. He has also been identified as the coordinator of the illegal exploitation of gold mines in the northern Colombian department of Bolivar, an activity that generated over $1 million annually for the guerrilla group.
A Colombian arrest warrant had been placed on Chato for aggravated conspiracy for drug trafficking as well as an international search warrant issued by Spanish authorities for alleged links to ETA.