Colombian police today announced they had captured five of the six suspects wanted in connection with the Tumaco bombing, which left 11 dead and 70 injured on earlier this month, reported El Espectador Friday.
The attack, which devastated the center of the town in the Pacific coastal department of Nariño, was allegedly carried out by members of the FARC’s new “Terrorism Support Network” (RAT).
RAT was created by the guerrillas after the death of supreme leader Alfonso Caño in November 2011, according to El Espectador.
According to police the evidence leading to the RAT was built on witness testimony in the aftermath and supplemented by security camera evidence, technical intelligence and a criminal investigation.
Of those captured, Alexander Cortez, alias “Alex,” Jairo Francisco, alias “Familita,” and two others known as “Muñeca” and “El Cholo,” were responsible for receiving and storing the explosives which were transported by river and sea and stored in the neighbourhood of Viento Libre.
Gerardo Chavez Portocarrero, who was arrested within 24 hours of the attack, owned the business where the vehicle packed with explosives was stored before the attack.
The captured will be tried for terrorism, murder, trafficking and possession of explosives.
The RAT network is allegedly connected to at least 12 other attacks. The Tumaco was part of a series of attacks which killed 19 Colombians, though it’s not known if the same groups were responsible.
