Colombia Extradites Rebel Leader Rojas to US as Security Policy Shifts

Colombia has extradited a rebel leader to the United States, marking a sharp change in its security strategy under a new conservative government.

Geovany Andres Rojas, also known as "the spider", was flown to California and placed in the custody of federal agents. He faces drug trafficking and terrorism charges in the United States.

For years, Rojas served as a spokesman and leader of Comandos de la Frontera, a rebel group involved in cocaine trafficking in Putumayo, a province bordering Ecuador and Peru.

His extradition had been delayed for several months after former President Gustavo Petro designated him a peace negotiator. Rojas was arrested in Bogota in February 2025, and the Supreme Court approved his extradition in October. Petro suspended the move, arguing that Rojas was needed for talks between the government and several rebel groups, including Comandos de la Frontera.

The new government of President Abelardo de la Espriella lifted the ban on Rojas's extradition. De la Espriella, elected in June, has suspended talks with rebel groups and adopted an iron-fist approach to crime, including militarizing a northern city where a drug gang tried to impose a three-day curfew.

"You don't build peace by protecting narco-terrorists like this bandit," De la Espriella said on Friday after personally supervising Rojas's transfer. He urged U.S. authorities to ensure that Rojas cannot negotiate deals that would leave his crimes unpunished.

De la Espriella was endorsed by U.S. President Donald Trump during his campaign and has said he will work closely with the United States to fight drug trafficking.

Colombia has struggled to contain violence in rural areas in recent years as drug gangs and rebel groups fight over territory abandoned by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) following their 2016 peace deal. More than 14,000 fighters laid down their weapons under the agreement that ended five decades of guerrilla warfare, but the deal left a power vacuum in regions with little state presence, where illegal activities like the cocaine trade are common. Several breakaway groups now compete over drug routes, illegal mines and extortion rackets.

Comandos de la Frontera emerged in 2017 and is partly led by former FARC fighters who did not join the 2016 peace deal. The group formed an alliance with the Segunda Marquetalia organization, founded in 2019 by former FARC commander Luciano Marin, but the alliance fell apart two years ago, leaving Comandos de la Frontera to conduct separate negotiations with Colombia's government.