By Douglas Farah*

Relatively unnoticed in Colombia, the government confirmed the death of Edgar Tovar, a senior FARC commander and one of the group’s chief ties to Mexican drug cartels.

Tovar, AKA Gentil Gomez Marin or Angel Gabriel Losada Garcia, was the commander of the FARC’s 48th Front, which operates primarily along the Ecuador/Colombia border, which has recently grown into the main cocaine conduit for supplying Mexican drug cartels. This makes him a key figure in the FARC’s financial structure.

With the FARC leadership being relatively unable to communicate with each other and the contacts with the Mexican organizations a closely guarded among a few members of the 48th Front, Tovar’s death is a significant blow. It removes one of the key facilitators of a terrorist group in dealing with transnational organized criminal groups.

Because of these ties, as outlined in my recent Ecuador study Tovar was a primary target for the Colombian police and military. Tovar had also been in charge of the security of Raul Reyes, the FARC’s second-in-command, killed in Ecuador on March 1, 2008 by a Colombian attack.

One of the most interesting elements about the FARC in recent times is how groups like the 48th Front, which provide much of the logistical support for the rest of the FARC while collecting most of the cocaine money, have become more independent from the General Secretariat.

Internal intercepted communications of the FARC in recent months have shown that, despite pleas for money by the Secretariat, the 48th Front has simply refused to comply, and has shown in marked disinterest in fighting the Colombian military.

Given the FARC’s dependence on the 48th Front’s trafficking network (it works closely with the 29th Front, which is in charge of much of the weapons procurement), such defections could be lethal.

I and others have predicted the core FARC that still claims to have an ideological compass will be greatly reduced over time as the group becomes more and more criminalized. As the illicit trade becomes an ever-more dominant reason for existence - no longer tied to benefiting the revolution but entirely tied to personal gain - this fracturing will continue. My full blog is here.

*Counterterrorism Blog
February 26, 2010
http://counterterrorismblog.org/2010/02
/the_death_of_edgar_tovar_and_t.php
Cross-posted with permission