The recent arrest of an ex-FARC criminal boss who controlled swathes of drug trafficking territory points to a key scenario in Colombia’s new criminal era: former members of the guerrilla army will likely become one of the dominant players in the transnational cocaine trade.

Jefferson Chávez Toro, alias “Cachi” was one of the most wanted men in Colombia. He was also a former rebel with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia – FARC), among possibly thousands of those who chose not to demobilize last year as part of a historic peace process with the government.

Authorities arrested Cachi on March 13 in the city of Pereira. He is accused of being the second-in-command of Los de Guacho, a group of criminalized former FARC members that operates in Nariño department and is named after its leader Walter Arizala, alias “Guacho.”

Attorney General Néstor Humberto Martínez claimed that Guacho’s group is 300-strong, and is “at the service of [Mexico’s] Sinaloa Cartel.”

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https://www.insightcrime.org/news/brief/ex-farc-mafia-boss-cocaine-network-mexico-ties/