Narco-Terrorists Charged in Federal Indictment with Exchanging Cocaine for Firearms, Explosives in War with Colombia’s Government

LOS ANGELES – A commander of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army (FARC-EP) foreign terrorist organization and his associate have been charged in a six-count superseding indictment alleging they are senior members of a large cocaine-manufacturing ring that trades cocaine to buy firearms to engage in terrorist activity in Colombia, the Justice Department announced today.

Iván Jacobo Idrobo Arredondo, 39, a.k.a. “Marlon Vásquez,” and Juan Diego Palta Montero, 26, a.k.a. “Ñeque,” are charged with:

• one count of attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization;
• one count of conspiracy to engage in narco-terrorism;
• one count of conspiracy to manufacture and distribute cocaine for the purpose of unlawful importation;
• one count of conspiracy to possess firearms, machine guns, and destructive devices in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense; and
• one count of distribution of cocaine for the purpose of unlawful importation.

Idrobo is charged with one additional count of possession of firearms, machine guns, and destructive devices in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense. Both defendants are believed to be in Colombia and are not in custody.

According to the superseding indictment that was unsealed on May 5, FARC-EP is a dissident faction of the FARC terrorist group and emerged after its rejection of a 2016 peace agreement between FARC and the Colombian government. FARC-EP is Colombia’s most powerful and violent dissident group and has continued to carry out criminal acts, including assassinations, extortion, hostage-takings, and armed assaults. The group focuses most of its attacks on Colombian government and military targets but has also attacked critical infrastructure, Colombian civilians, and U.S. military personnel in the country. FARC-EP equips its members with firearms, machine guns, mines, and bombs. 

The group disseminates propaganda videos to convince the Colombian public and government that FARC-EP controls Colombia, to threaten rivals, and to recruit young Colombians to join it. Idrobo has appeared in and is the primary speaker in some of these videos. FARC-EP controls an area of Colombia responsible for producing approximately 70% of the cocaine manufactured in that nation.

The United States designated FARC-EP a foreign terrorist organization in December 2021. FARC-EP partners with other terrorist organizations, including the Sinaloa Cartel, Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), and Nueva Familia Michoacana.

From March 2023 to March 2024, Idrobo and Palta knowingly attempted to provide material support and resources to FARC-EP by way of thousands of rounds of ammunition, including for AK-47s, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, 100 grenades, and 12 machine guns – weapons they attempted to obtain by exchanging cocaine they had manufactured and distributed at Colombia-based laboratories Idrobo and others owned and operated. 

In one such drug deal in Colombia in May 2023, seven kilograms (15.4 pounds) of cocaine – intended for importation and distribution into the United States, including Southern California – in exchange for Colombian pesos worth approximately $10,715. 

In December 2023, a co-conspirator traveled to the Czech Republic on Idrobo’s behalf to review and examine weapons that would be traded for cocaine to be imported into the United States. Following a meeting with a purported weapons supplier, the co-conspirator discussed how FARC-EP sought to obtain rocket-propelled grenade launchers to shoot at the Colombian presidential palace, Colombian army helicopters, Colombia’s Supreme Court building, local police stations, and the place where Colombian President Gustavo Petro was located, to force Colombia’s government to respect them.

Later that month, the defendants, along with a co-conspirator, distributed approximately 21 kilograms (46.3 pounds) of cocaine packaged in materials depicting the Hollywood sign in Los Angeles to a buyer.

Four other Colombian nationals were also charged in a related indictment also unsealed on May 5. Two defendants – Jorge Eliecer Luque Monsalve, 53, a.k.a. “Jorge Col,” and Rubén Darío García Londoño, 41, a.k.a. “Bencho,” have been arrested by Colombian authorities. Luque is pending extradition to the United States and García has been extradited to the United States and made his initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on May 5. García was ordered detained pending trial and entered a plea of not guilty. His trial is scheduled to begin on July 1.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.       

If convicted of all charges, the defendants would face a mandatory minimum sentence of 50 years in federal prison and a statutory maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

The Drug Enforcement Administration’s Los Angeles Field Division and Bogotá Country Office are investigating this matter with substantial assistance from the Colombian National Police, the Czech Republic Police’s National Counterterrorism, Extremism and Cybercrime Agency (NCTEKK) and Special Activities Unit (UZC SKPV PCR). The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs and the Criminal Division’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section’s Office of Judicial Attaché in Bogotá, Colombia, provided significant assistance.

Assistant United States Attorneys Benedetto L. Balding, Kyle W. Kahan, and Kelly L. Larocque of the Transnational Organized Crime Section are prosecuting this case.

These cases are part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.