The result was obtained in the midst of sustained fighting against members of the GAO ELN, in an operation that led to hitting the resources of this armed structure in the east of the department.
Thanks to intelligence work and coordinated military operations, troops of the Twenty-Ninth Brigade of the Third Division, with the support and resources of the Light Cavalry Group No. 8 and the Cauca Military Gaula (Anti-Extortion and Anti-Kidnapping Group), managed to neutralize the threat of alias Demetrio or Espagueti, alleged financial coordinator of the Southwestern War Front, of the GAO-ELN. This result of the military operation occurred during firefights in the village of Paniquita, El Diviso village, rural area of the municipality of Totoró, department of Cauca.
Alias Demetrio, with more than three decades in illegal armed structures, had a record for his participation in terrorist operations and in the mass kidnapping of the La María church, in Cali. In 2014 he was arrested in a coordinated operation conducted by the Military Forces and the National Police, but later he would have returned to the criminal organization, serving as financial coordinator of the Southwestern War Front of the ELN, coordinating illicit activities and logistical support networks in the departments of Cauca and Huila.
The protocols established within the framework of international humanitarian law were implemented during the operation. In the area were found by troops handguns, ammunition, magazines, detonators, magic grenades, military accessory material, communication equipment and propaganda alluding to the ELN, which were put into custody of the authorities for the corresponding urgent acts.
Source: National Army - Third Division Press
