Colombia FARC dissident leader arrested on extortion charges

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL -The leader of the ‘Ismael Ruiz’ front of the former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) dissidents, known as ‘Miller,’ ‘Granadillo’ or ‘Stevan,’ has been arrested on charges of extortion.

‘Miller’ was arrested in the department of Hulia, in southern Colombia, and was one of the most wanted men in Tolim.

The security forces seized two firearms, ammunition of different calibers, several cell phones and cash allegedly coming from the extortion of retailers in the region between the departments of Tolima, Huila and Caqueta.

“Two criminals who kept me up at night are behind bars, aka ‘Bolas’ and aka ‘Miller’. Now I am warning aka ‘Mauricio,’ the second leader of the Ismael Ruiz gang, that he is close to being captured,” said Tolima governor José Ricardo Orozco Valero.

The authorities confirmed that the Prosecutor’s Office has been successful as the investigations continue to produce “evidence” against him. ‘Miller’ and ‘Alexander,’ ringleader of another dissident front and arrested in July 2020, have been accused of being behind the assassination of environmental leader Carlo Aldario Arenas Salinas, also known as ‘Cejas’ in November 2019.

“With 6 military operations conducted by soldiers of the 6th Brigade in the department of Tolima, ‘Miller’ fled to the department of Huila, to be captured in the village of Horizonte, municipality of Neiva, where Intelligence operatives were able to locate him,” police sources said.

The Prosecutor’s Office has also indicted him for crimes of aggravated conspiracy to commit a crime, extortion, manufacture, trafficking and carrying of weapons and “illegal coercion by members of criminal groups.”