Two Members of Drug Ring ‘Las FARC’ Nabbed in Puerto Rico by Task Force
Special Agent in Charge Douglas Leff, of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) San Juan, Puerto Rico Field Office, released a press statement describing the arrests of Jonathan Arce Carrillo a/k/a “El Joyero” and Anthony Gonzalez Miranda a/k/a “Tony”.on Friday.
The two suspects were captured in San Juan, Puerto Rico, as a result of a special task force of personnel from the FBI San Juan Safe Streets Task Force, the U.S. Marshals Service, and the Police of Puerto Rico Drug Unit.
These individuals were amongst the 75 defendants from the drug trafficking organization known as “Las FARC,” (Las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Cantera) charged by a federal grand jury in the District of Puerto Rico with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and distribution of, controlled substances on February 20, 2019.
U.S. Attorney Rosa Emilia Rodríguez announced the charges in the newly unsealed indictment on Wednesday, noting that the three-year investigation into Las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Cantera, Las FARC for short, was initially called “Operation Crocodile.”
“We learned that they would throw their victims, and the bodies of those they had murdered, to their caiman,” Rodríguez said in Spanish at a press conference, explaining that the mini-crocodile-like animals were kept as domestic pets by the notoriously vicious group.
“The goal of Las FARC was to maintain control of all the drug trafficking activities within the Santurce area by the use of force, threats, violence, and intimidation,” the U.S. Attorney’s office said in a statement.
During the same press conference, prosecutor Alberto Lopez said the group is linked to more than a dozen killings. He declined to provide the specific number of victims that had been disposed of via the reptiles, citing confidential evidence.
The indictment, which the grand jury handed up on Feb. 20, included alleged Las FARC crime bosses Emmanuel Pacheco-Marín, who was arrested early Wednesday morning, and Vladimir Natera-Abreu, who has not been arrested in connection with the charges, although Telemundo PR reports he is currently in custody in the Dominican Republic.
According to court documents, the list also includes members from every level of the organization who performed a variety of functions “in pursuit of financial gain and profit.” Among them are “drug point owners, runners, suppliers, enforcers, drug processors, sellers and facilitators.”
The group’s brutality was not only directed at rivals, Rodríguez alleged. Members were known to assault and abduct people within their own organization “in order to intimidate and maintain control of the drug trafficking activities.”
