Colombian army kills FARC leader and 4 alleged rebels

The Colombian army said Thursday it had killed a key leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerilla group along with four other alleged members. Jose Neftali Umenza, also known as "Mincho" and believed to be handling most of the FARC's drug-trafficking business in the Pacific area, died in an explosion in a rural part of the Buenaventura port city in southwestern Colombia, Colombia's Defense Minister Juan Carlos Pinzon said. Pinzon said that four other alleged FARC rebels died too, while four others were injured. ` He said the death of the FARC drug boss is a "major blow against the financial spinal cord of the FARC." Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos congratulated the armed forces and Pinzon on the successful operation. "Mincho" served about 41 years in the criminal organization and took part in several kidnappings, including the kidnapping and murder of Congress members, the kidnapping of 120 workers in southern Buenaventura in 2009 as well as of six journalists from this same region. He was the guerrilla group's key link to the Mexican drug cartels, and "his criminal actions represented 30 percent of the resources of the FARC' s leadership," Pinzon said. The FARC, Colombia's largest rebel group, has been at war with the government since its establishment in 1964.