Colombia hands over FARC dissident 'Araña' to U.S. on narco-terrorism charges

Colombia extradited a member of a former FARC splinter group to the United States on Friday, handing him over to Drug Enforcement Administration officials at an airport in Barranquilla.

Geovanni Andrés Rojas, known by the alias "Araña", or Spider, was escorted by Colombian soldiers and Interpol officers before being transferred to DEA agents and U.S. marshals and placed aboard an American aircraft. Footage released by the presidency showed him restrained with hand and ankle cuffs.

The extradition had been announced in August, when the government identified Rojas as the spokesperson for the Comandos de la Frontera, one of several factions that emerged from the now-defunct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia after it signed a peace accord a decade ago.

At the same time, authorities approved the extradition of two other figures: Willington Henao Gutiérrez, alias "Mocho Olmedo", described as a leader of the 33rd Dissident Front of the FARC, and Carmen Evelio Castillo Carrillo, alias "Muñeca", identified as a leader of the Conquerors Self-Defense Forces of the Snowy Mountains. Only Rojas was handed over on Friday.

The U.S. Justice Department indicted Rojas in March 2025 on charges of narco-terrorism and international conspiracy to distribute cocaine. He had previously represented the Comandos de la Frontera in peace negotiations with the administration of former president Gustavo Petro.

President Abelardo de La Espriella, who calls himself "The Tiger", has promised to confront persistent violence by abandoning Petro's policy of negotiating with armed groups, arguing that the peace process failed. Speaking at the handover, he said law-abiding Colombians now feel relief and protection, while criminals face growing fear because the government is hunting them down and will not relent in its campaign against narco-terrorism.

Illegal economies such as drug trafficking and illegal mining remain contested among FARC dissident factions, the Clan del Golfo cartel and the National Liberation Army guerrilla group.