President says 1,800 criminals recently caught around Colombia

President Juan Manuel Santos said on 16 May that the state had caught more than 1,800 guerrillas and suspected criminals in 45 days as part of ongoing security operations across the country, Caracol radio reported that day. These operations, directed at the country's two communist guerrilla forces, organized-crime gangs and petty crime, had he said attained 65 per cent of their objetives with 20 days left before their scheduled termination; they have included raids on drug-dealing hubs in 20 cities. Mr Santos said the state had caught 493 guerrillas and some 1,400 crime suspects in this period, Caracol reported. One of the recently detained was the guerrilla dubbed Sandino, identified as a field commander in Front 54 of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), Bogotá's Radio Santa Fe reported on 16 May. The army caught Sandino in the locality of San Juan near the capital; his unit was active in the Sumapaz area in the Cundinamarca department outside Bogotá. Authorities believed Sandino was involved in "logistical" work for the FARC in and around Sumapaz, meaning assuring material supplies and financing through extortion. He was also sought for his suspected role in a bomb attack in February 2013 that killed three soldiers in Cundinamarca, Radio Santa Fe reported. The broadcaster also reported on 18 May the arrests of 20 crime suspects in nine departments including Bogotá in ongoing security operations. The detained were sought in relation with crimes including murder, extortion and drug trafficking, it stated.