COLOMBIA: TROOPS CAPTURE BRAZIL'S MOST POWERFUL DRUG LORD LUIS FERNANDO DA COSTA AKA FERNANDINHO BEIRA-MAR (FREDDY SEASHORE)

Record ID: 318434

  • Title: COLOMBIA: TROOPS CAPTURE BRAZIL'S MOST POWERFUL DRUG LORD LUIS FERNANDO DA COSTA AKA FERNANDINHO BEIRA-MAR (FREDDY SEASHORE)
  • Date: 24th April 2001
  • Summary: (U1) MARANDUA, COLOMBIA (APRIL 22, 2001) (REUTERS) 1. SLV COLOMBIAN SOLDIERS STANDING IN FRONT OF AIRPLANE ALLEGEDLY BELONGING TO LUIS FERNANDO DA COSTA (FERNANDINHO); SLV SOLDIERS AT MARUANDA AIRFORCE BASE; SLV PLANE; MV LUIS FERNANDO DA COSTA IN FRONT OF MEDIA (8 SHOTS) 0.49 2. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) FERNANDINHO STANDING IN FRONT OF MEDIA, SAYING "What was I doing in Colombia, I was living my life, I was living my life. I have nothing to do with the FARC (Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces), the media says whatever it wants, it puts whatever it wants in its journals so as to sell newspapers." 1.10 3. MV THREE CAPTURED MEN INCLUDING DA COSTA; SLV PRESS CONFERENCE HELD BY DEFENCE MINISTER LUIS FERNANDO RAMIREZ (2 SHOTS) 1.20 4. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) COLOMBIAN DEFENCE MINISTER, LUIS FERNANDO RAMIREZ, SAYING "I think it is important to say that with the capture of Fernandinho, I would say it is the beginning of the end for the drug trafficking cartels that operated on the borders between Colombia, Brazil and Venezuela. These drug trafficking cartels really violate the sovereignty of our nations,, do not respect frontiers, but after the death of Pablo Escobar and having put the Rodriguez Orejuela brothers, of the Cali cartel, in prison, this was probably the cartel with the most visibility thereby the importance in disassembling it. I believe this is the beginning of the end for this drug cartel which operated in this region of the country." 2.02 5. MV SOLDIERS LISTENING 2.09 6. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) COLOMBIAN RAPID DEPLOYMENT FORCE COMMANDER, GENERAL CARLOS ALBERTO FRASICA, SAYING "Colombia's Rapid Deployment Force was in charge of Fernandinho's capture. We had been following him, and since the beginning of the operation, we had an armed combat in which he was wounded and we were able to continue with the assistance of the population and the different sources of information, we followed him until we were able to find him in Santa Rita. In this region on a plane, that plane, he was brought down. He tried to escape. The Rapid Deployment continued to chase him until we finally were able to capture him yesterday." 2.42 7. MV MEDIA 2.52 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 9th May 2001 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: MARUANDA, COLOMBIA
  • Country: Colombia
  • Reuters ID: LVA5TNU27497ORS8II824H9EETD4
  • Story Text: Colombian troops have captured Brazil's most powerful
    drug lord, the army said, ending a drawn-out manhunt for an
    escaped convict accused of arming leftist rebels in exchange
    for cocaine.

    Luis Fernando da Costa, known by his Brazilian
    nickname of Fernandinho Beira-Mar (Freddy Seashore),
    surrendered to the army on Saturday (April 22), after a
    50-minute standoff deep in Colombia's jungle province of
    Vichada, near the southeastern border with Venezuela and
    Brazil.

    Da Costa, said to be wounded and in very poor health,
    was accompanied by another Brazilian, who was also captured.

    Da Costa denied any involvement in drug trafficking,
    saying he had just been living his life, adding that he was
    not involved with the FARC, (Colombian Revolutionary Armed
    Forces), guerrilla movement.

    Colombias Defence Minister, Luis Fernandos Ramirez, said
    Da Costas arrest marked "the beginning of the end for the
    drug trafficking cartels that operated on the borders between
    Colombia, Brazil and Venezuela." Ramirez pointed out that the
    cartels operations at the border between Colombia, Venezuela
    and Brazil also violated the sovereignty of the three nations.

    Members of Colombia's Rapid Deployment Force, an elite
    group trained to fight drug-trafficking in Colombia, chased Da
    Costa to the border town of Santa Rita, where, after an armed
    struggle with members of the Force, during which he was
    injured, the Force was able to capture him.

    Rapid Deployment Force Commander, General Carlos Alberto
    Frasica, the members of the community were instrumental in
    making Da Costas arrest possible.

    Da Costa, 33, a former kingpin of Rio de Janeiro's
    shantytown drug trade, escaped from a Brazilian prison in
    1996. The government said he has been operating out of the
    Colombian jungle since fleeing Paraguay several months ago.

    Colombia was studying the possibility of extraditing da
    Costa to Brazil, where he has been sentenced to multiple
    30-year terms for drug trafficking and murder.

    The armed forces escalated their search efforts for the
    Brazilian two days ago after forcing down and destroying a
    small propeller aircraft believed to be carrying the drug lord
    and four other passengers, all of whom fled. The army on
    Friday captured one of the escapees, who said da Costa had
    been on board and had fled into the jungle on foot.

    More than 300 troops had been ordered to fan out across
    the area on Friday while air force planes and helicopters
    scanned it from the sky. The search operation was Colombia's
    biggest yet for the Brazilian trafficker.

    Da Costa's capture could be crucial for the army, which
    has long been trying to prove that the country's largest rebel
    force, the 17,000-member Revolutionary Armed Forces of
    Colombia (FARC) is deeply involved in the drug trade.

    It accuses da Costa of selling arms, ammunition and
    explosives to the FARC in return for cocaine and believes he
    could be one of the most important links that the rebels have
    to the international drug trade.

    In February, Colombian troops captured eight Brazilians,
    including da Costa's girlfriend. Local media said she had a
    notebook detailing the trade of 560 rifles, 2,252 light arms,
    explosives and ammunition.

    FARC commander Ivan Rios recently told the Brazilian
    newspaper Estado de Sao Paulo that the rebels might have
    collected "taxes" from the Brazilian's drug business, but he
    denied that they had sold him cocaine for arms. The FARC has
    long admitted to forcing industries and drug barons to
    contribute funds for their 37-year-old war to set up a
    communist state.


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