FARC arrest reveals their operations in Panama

The Panama Star reports that Luis Orovio Lobon, aka “Mello,” in a house in Aguablanca, Cali has now provided documented proof of the FARC drug-and-gun smuggling in Darien along the Panama-Colombia border.

This was a bonus find, frankly, as the Colombian authorities were backtracking a link hoping it led to "Mono Jojoy", Jorge Briceño Suarez, the current priority-number-one FARC leader targeted by the authorities.

The arrest of "Mello" may also finally solve the case of the kidnapping of Juan Cecilio Padron, a Cuban-American, which has been attributed to the FARC.

Since the capture of the "Raul Reyes" computer files, it has been abundantly clear that FARC operatives have long-established activities from Panama through Costa Rica on north as far as Mexico. In several cases now, those operations have been interrupted or shut down by law-enforcement actions.

Here's hoping that this arrest will accelerate the dismantlement of the FARC's Panama operations.