The commander of the 30th Front of leftist rebel group FARC, Jaime Renteria Mosquera, alias “Jefferson,” demobilized Friday along with nine other guerrillas from his unit.
Jefferson’s group surrendered to authorities in the western town of Bahia Malaga, in the Pacific department of Valle del Cauca, under Colombia’s Justice and Peace Law, which guarantees procedural benefits to guerrillas who decide to demobilize.
“After 12 years of being in the organization, he [Jefferson] makes the decision to demobilize and benefit from the demobilization plan. It will be done in an individual process as with the other members of his organization,” said the commander of the Colombian Navy, Roberto Garcia Marquez.
The FARC’s 30th Front led drug trafficking activities in the areas near the Yurumangui river and was responsible for multiple attacks against civilians on Colombia’s Pacific coast, according to Caracol Radio.
Jefferson’s group had suffered heavy blows in recent years such as the killing of his predecessor in a bombing campaign on October 20 and the deaths of 10 members of his unit during Operation Montes last March, in which five other guerrillas were captured.
On October 2, three of his men were slain and two others were taken into custody during Operation Salomon.
More than 1,400 guerrillas have demobilized this year, with the majority coming from the ranks of the FARC, according to the director of the Colombian Agency for Reintegration, Alejandro Eder.