War on drugs hit by rebel peace deal

Published on Monday 28 December 2009 21:02

TWO once-bitter enemies in Colombia have stopped their war and teamed up in the interests of the drugs trade, flooding Venezuela with cocaine that finds its way to Europe and the UK.

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) have been fighting for 45 years to install a socialist regime. Over the past 20 years, the group has also been battling right-wing paramilitaries for control of the country's drug crops.

Pedro Guerrero, known as "Blade", heads the paramilitaries of the Popular Revolutionary Anti-Terrorist Army of Colombia (Erpac). He has long fought the Farc in the country's eastern plains. But this year there has not been one clash.

"The lack of combat can mean only one thing", said Raphael Ariza, head of the Colombian secret police. "They have a pact in the interests of drugs trafficking."

The broker of the deal is Colombia's top drugs trafficker, Daniel "The Madman" Barrera. Believed to be living in Venezuela, he is responsible for much of the cocaine heading to the UK. He has long been working with both the Farc and the Erpac. It was not serving his interests to have two of his suppliers fighting each other.

"Only a trafficker like Barrera has the power to broker a deal between these two factions, who hate each other," said a source in the US embassy in Bogota.

So now the Farc's most powerful fighting division, with 5,000 fighters, is working with the 1,300-strong Erpac.

Heavily armed convoys carrying paramilitaries pass through guerrilla checkpoints, buying up coca base in land the rebels control. The coca base is taken to labs run by the Erpac, where it is crystallised into cocaine.

Then the drugs begin their first step towards the European market, either being flown from illegal airstrips into Venezuela, or travelling across the plains in trucks or canoes.

Many crossings are controlled by the Farc who, according to Colombian intelligence sources, have camps in Venezuela. A Colombian military source said the guerrillas control territory in the neighbouring country.

The Farc and the Erpac are now working together to move drugs in four of Colombia's eastern provinces. Here there are enough coca crops to produce 100 tons of cocaine every year. Now that these factions are no longer battling each other, the drugs can move freely towards Venezuela.

Once there, they move on networks established by Barrera. They go by air to West Africa, where loads are distributed among human couriers who carry them on flights to London; or they are hidden in containers or in fishing boats and yachts.

Nobody knows how long this peace pact will last. The Marxist rebels have been badly hurt by the US-backed security forces, and cannot afford to fight the illegal paramilitaries. "Blade" is now only interested in drugs trafficking, and sees no benefit in fighting the rebels. It is bad for business.