The United States Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California announced Monday that a commander of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army (FARC-EP) terrorist organization and his associate were charged in a federal indictment alleging they lead a cocaine manufacturing ring that trades contraband for weapons to engage in terrorist activity in Colombia.
According to the six-count superseding indictment, which was unsealed on May 5, the two men charged are: 39-year-old Iván Jacobo Idrobo Arredondo (also known as “Marlon Vásquez) and 26-year-old Juan Diego Palta Montero (also known as “Ñeque”).
Both defendants have been charged with:
- One count of attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization
- One count of conspiracy to engage in narco-terrorism
- One count of conspiracy to manufacture and distribute cocaine for the purpose of unlawful importation
- One count of conspiracy to possess firearms, machine guns and destructive devices in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense
- One count of distribution of cocaine for the purpose of unlawful importation
Additionally, Idrobo is charged with a count of possession of firearms, machine guns and destructive devices in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense. Both men are believed to be in Colombia, the Department of Justice said.
“From March 2023 to March 2024, Idrobo and Palta knowingly attempted to provide material support and resources to FARC-EP by way of thousands of rounds of ammunition, including for AK-47s, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, grenades and machine guns — weapons they attempted to obtain by exchanging cocaine they had manufactured and distributed at Colombia-based laboratories they and others co-owned and operated,” the DOJ’s media release states.
Federal authorities described one deal that occurred in March 2023 when over 15 pounds of cocaine that was intended for importation and distribution to the United States — including Southern California — in exchange for Colombian pesos worth more than $10,700. A separate exchange took place in December of that year when a co-conspirator traveled to the Czech Republic to examine weapons that would be traded for cocaine to be imported to the U.S., officials said.
“Following a meeting with a purported weapons supplier, the co-conspirator discussed how FARC-EP sought to obtain rocket-propelled grenade launchers to shoot at the Colombian presidential palace, Colombian army helicopters, Colombia’s Supreme Court building, local police stations, and the place where Colombian President Gustavo Petro was located, to force Colombia’s government to respect them,” the DOJ said. “Later that month, the defendants, along with a co-conspirator, distributed approximately 21 kilograms — 46.3 pounds — of cocaine packaged in materials depicting the Hollywood sign to a buyer.”
A related indictment also unsealed on May 5 charges four other Colombian nationals, although only two, 53-year-old Jorge Eliecer Luque Monsalve (also known as “Jorge Col”) and 41-year-old Rubén Darío García Londoño (also known as “Bencho”) have been arrested by Colombian authorities. The DOJ says that Luque is pending extradition to the U.S., while García has already made his initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on May 5.
García was ordered detained pending trial and entered a not guilty plea. His trial is scheduled to begin July 1.
If convicted on all charges, the defendants would face a mandatory minimum of 50 years in federal prison and a statutory maximum life sentence.
The indictment describes FARC-EP as a dissident faction of the larger FARC terrorist group and states that it emerged after the rejection of a peace agreement between the larger group and the Colombian government in 2016.
“FARC-EP is Colombia’s most powerful and violent dissident group and has continued to carry out criminal acts, including assassinations, extortion, hostage takings and armed assaults,” the DOJ said, adding that the group “focuses most of its attacks on Colombian government and military targets but has also attacked critical infrastructure, Colombian civilians, and U.S. military personnel in the country.”
FARC-EP has been designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S. government since December 2021. It is known to partner with other international cartels such as the Sinaloa Cartel, the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación and Nueva Familia Michoacana.
The cases are part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative from the Department of Justice to “repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations and protect communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.”