The group that attempted to bomb Colombian air force planes at the Cúcuta aiport on Dec. 14, killing three people, were members of a criminal gang hired by the dissident elements of the FARC guerrilla group operating out of Venezuela, Colombian Defense Minister Diego Molano says.
Three men and two women were arrested this week in connection to the attack, in which one of the perpetrators was killed, while evidence so far suggests that the alleged terrorist operation was financed by the FARC dissident group known as the 33rd Front.
“All of this is under investigation and the police will be the one responsible for shedding light into this. What is clear is that the enemy of Cúcuta and the North of Santander is the dissidents of the FARC’s 33rd Front, which is responsible for five attacks that have taken place in the city,” Molano told Colombia’s Blu Radio.
The alleged perpetrators “were hired in Medellín and trained there in Cúcuta, Catatumbo and Venezuela,” Molano said.
According to Colombian press reports, the five arrested this week were hired by the guerrilla faction commanded by Javier Alonso Veloza García, AKA John Mechas, and were to receive a $30,000 payment to place bombs on air force planes parked near the runway.
The suspects were captured in raids carried out this week in Medellín and face a number of charges, including terrorism, aggravated homicide, attempted murder, and the illegal manufacture or carrying of weapons, ammunition and explosives.
One of those killed in the bomb attacks tried to enter the airport carrying one of the explosives, which “was activated, exploded and took his life,” Molano had previously said.
The second device exploded minutes later, when two police bomb squad experts reached the area and identified a suspicious suitcase. “When [they were] approaching with all the security precautions, it detonated,” said Colonel Giovanni Antonio Madariaga, commander of the Metropolitan Police of Cúcuta, in statements released to the media.
Several armed groups operate near the border town of Cúcuta, including the National Liberation Army (ELN), and the dissidents of the FARC. Both groups operate out of Venezuela and are engaged in drug trafficking, according to U.S. law enforcement officials.
While the Nicolás Maduro regime has denied that illegal Colombian armed groups operate in Venezuela, Bogotá authorities believe that more than 1,000 guerrillas belonging to the dissident forces of the FARC and the ELN operate freely inside Venezuelan territory.
