Colombian authorities have extradited alleged drug trafficker and rebel leader Geovany Andres Rojas to the United States, months after his transfer was delayed because he had been designated as a participant in peace negotiations.
Rojas, also known as “Araña” or “The Spider”, was flown to California and handed over to US federal authorities. He faces drug trafficking and terrorism charges.
He was previously a spokesman and leader of Comandos de la Frontera, a rebel organisation involved in cocaine trafficking in Putumayo, a Colombian province bordering Ecuador and Peru.
Rojas had been shielded from extradition under former President Gustavo Petro, who wanted him involved in peace discussions between the government and armed groups, including Comandos de la Frontera.
However, the protection was later lifted by Colombia’s new conservative President, Abelardo de la Espriella, marking a change in the government’s approach to dealing with armed and criminal groups.
“You don’t build peace by protecting narco-terrorists like this bandit,” De la Espriella said on Friday after personally overseeing Rojas’ transfer to the US.
“I ask U.S. authorities … that he cannot negotiate deals that will leave his crimes unpunished.”
The US Justice Department also released a photograph showing Rojas surrounded by law enforcement officers following his extradition.
“Colombia and the Department of Justice are making a clean sweep of narcoterrorists, starting with Araña,” U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon said in a statement.
Rojas was arrested in Bogota in February 2025, while Colombia’s Supreme Court approved his extradition in October of the same year.
Petro subsequently suspended the extradition, maintaining that Rojas was needed for peace negotiations involving the Colombian government and several rebel organisations.
De la Espriella, who was elected in June, has since halted negotiations with rebel groups and adopted a tougher security policy.
His administration recently deployed military forces in a northern Colombian city after a drug gang attempted to enforce a three-day curfew.
The Colombian president received an endorsement from US President Donald Trump during his campaign and has pledged closer cooperation with Washington in the fight against drug trafficking.
Rebel Groups Battle For Territory
Colombia has continued to face violence in rural communities as drug trafficking organisations and rebel groups compete for control of territories previously occupied by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.
The FARC reached a peace agreement with the Colombian government in 2016, bringing an end to more than five decades of guerrilla conflict.
More than 14,000 fighters reportedly surrendered their weapons under the agreement. However, the departure of the FARC created a power vacuum in areas where government presence was limited.
Various armed groups subsequently moved into some of those territories, competing over cocaine trafficking routes, illegal mining operations and extortion.
Comandos de la Frontera emerged in 2017 and includes former FARC fighters who rejected or did not participate in the 2016 peace agreement.
The group later formed an alliance with Segunda Marquetalia, an organisation established in 2019 by former FARC commander Luciano Marin.
That alliance eventually collapsed two years ago, after which Comandos de la Frontera began pursuing separate negotiations with the Colombian government.
Rojas is expected to appear before a US court for his initial hearing on Monday.
