The United States government paid a $2.8 million reward for the death of former FARC supreme commander Guillermo Leon Saez, alias “Alfonso Cano,” according to a U.S. government official.
The reward came as part of the country’s Narcotics Reward Program, which offers up to $5 million to anyone who aids or facilitates the arrest or conviction of major traffickers involved in importing drugs to the U.S.
Announcing the payment, Assistant Secretary of State Brooke Darby said, “Throughout the western hemisphere, and notably in Colombia, Mexico and Venezuela, the Narcotics Rewards program has helped to bring important traffickers to justice, including commanders of the FARC, such as Guillermo León Sáenz.”
Cano was killed in the southern Cauca region during “Operation Ulysses,” carried out by the Colombian security forces in November 2011.
In making the announcement, Darby disclosed that, since the 1986 inception of the program, the U.S. government had paid rewards totalling $71 million.
According to Darby, the money provided following the death of Cano was distributed among those who participated in Operation Ulysses.
A $5 million reward is offered for information leading to the capture of current FARC supreme leader Rodrigo Londoño Echeverri, alias “Timochenko.”
