Alias Bola Ocho, ringleader of the Luis José Solano Sepúlveda Front of the GAO ELN, apparently coordinated multiple terrorist acts against the Military Forces through the use of drones loaded with explosives.
On February 28, a National Army helicopter carrying out military operations in the south of Bolívar was attacked with explosive devices, in a terrorist action that left eight soldiers injured and sought to affect one of the strategic resources of the Institution to protect the inhabitants and confront the organized armed groups in the region.
Today, as a result of military operations, Colombian National Army neutralized alias Bola Ocho, accused of being allegedly responsible for planning and executing that attack, as well as other terrorist acts carried out through the use of drones adapted to launch explosive devices against the Military Forces.
During the military operation, war items, cash, documentation of interest to military intelligence and cell phones were seized from this individual, which, apparently, would contain relevant information for the investigations and the clarification of criminal activities carried out by this organized armed structure.
Alias Bola Ocho accumulated more than eleven years of criminal experience within the ELN. In recent years, he had become the main coordinator of the militias of this structure, responsible for coordinating terrorist support networks, directing armed acts and supporting illegal activities derived from extortion to the mining sector.
The investigations and intelligence information in the same way link him with other high-impact attacks against military units, including the drone attack perpetrated in August 2025 that left one soldier killed and seven injured; the attack against the Ground Operations Battalion No. 8, where two soldiers were killed; and the terrorist action against the Infantry Battalion No. 14, in Aguachica, department of Cesar, which caused the death of seven soldiers and left thirty members of the Military Forces injured.
The elimination of this ringleader represents a strategic blow for the GAO ELN, by affecting its command structure, weakening the coordination of the militias, disrupting terrorist support networks and reducing the ability of this organization to execute complex attacks by using drones against troops and military construction.
Source: Colombian National Army - First Division
