Tomás Medina Caracas also known as Tomás Molina Caracas and ''Negro Acacio'' (15 March 1965 – 1 September 2007) was a Colombian guerrilla member of the

Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People's Army ( es, link=no, Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de ColombiaEjército del Pueblo, FARC–EP or FARC) is a Marxist–Leninist guerrilla group involved in the continuing Colombian confl ...

(FARC) considered by Colombian authorities the man in charge of the illegal drug trade business and the head of the Eastern Bloc's 16th Front of this rebel group. He gained notoriety during the FARC-Government peace process (1999-2002) acting as a negotiator. He was also known for being the associate of

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

ian

drug dealer A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalati ...

Fernandinho Beiramar and for participating in an illegal arms deal of 10,000

AK-47 The AK-47, officially known as the ''Avtomat Kalashnikova'' (; also known as the Kalashnikov or just AK), is a gas-operated assault rifle that is chambered for the 7.62×39mm cartridge. Developed in the Soviet Union by Russian small-arms d ...

s for the FARC through the Peruvian government official

Vladimiro Montesinos Vladimiro Lenin Ilich Montesinos Torres (born 20 May 1945) is a former long-standing head of Peru's intelligence service, National Intelligence Service (SIN), under President Alberto Fujimori. In the year 2000, the infamous "Vladi-videos" came ...

, an adviser of former president of Peru,

Alberto Fujimori Alberto Kenya Fujimori Inomoto ( or ; born 28 July 1938) is a Peruvian politician, professor and former engineer who was President of Peru from 28 July 1990 until 22 November 2000. Frequently described as a dictator, * * * * * * he remains a ...

. Medina Caracas was killed on 1 September 2007 in a

Colombian Army The National Army of Colombia ( es, Ejército Nacional de Colombia) is the land warfare service branch of the Military Forces of Colombia. With over 361,420 active personnel as of 2020, it is the largest and oldest service branch in Colombia, an ...

military operation in eastern Colombia within the municipality of Cumaribo near the border with

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

. El Tiempo: El capo de las drogas de las Farc
eltiempo.com Accessed 3 September 2007. Medina Caracas had between 17 and 23 legal processes pending with the

Attorney General of Colombia The Office of the Attorney General of Colombia ( es, Fiscalía General de la Nación; literally "General Prosecutorial Office of the Nation") is the Colombian institution part of the Colombian judicial branch of Government with administrative a ...

, requesting his capture and a

red corner notice An Interpol notice is an international alert circulated by Interpol to communicate information about crimes, criminals, and threats by police in a member state (or an authorised international entity) to their counterparts around the world. The in ...

issued by the

INTERPOL The International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO; french: link=no, Organisation internationale de police criminelle), commonly known as Interpol ( , ), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and cri ...

. The Colombian Army spent two years searching for Medina Caracas, with him escaping from most of the operations carried out to find him. Just in Colombia, Medina Caracas was charged with narcotrafficking, delinquency, kidnapping, torture, first degree murder, terrorism, extortion and robbery. El Espectador: Confusa muerte de 'El Negro Acacio'
elespectador.com Accessed 3 September 2007. Revista Semana: Mindefensa dice que dieron muerte en combate al ‘Negro Acacio’, el hombre duro en el tráfico de droga de las Farc
semana.com Accessed 24 February 2020.

Early years

Medina Caracas was of

negroid Negroid (less commonly called Congoid) is an obsolete racial grouping of various people indigenous to Africa south of the area which stretched from the southern Sahara desert in the west to the African Great Lakes in the southeast, but also to i ...

origin. He became a teacher in a public school in the town of

Santander de Quilichao Santander de Quilichao is a town and municipality in the north of the Cauca Department, Colombia at 97 km to the north of Popayán and 45 km to the south of Cali Santiago de Cali (), or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca ...

, northern

Cauca Department Cauca Department (, es, Departamento del Cauca) is a Department of Southwestern Colombia. Located in the southwestern part of the country, facing the Pacific Ocean to the west, the Valle del Cauca Department to the north, Tolima Department ...

near the ''vereda'' known as Mary López where he was born. He later joined the FARC in May 1987 when he was 22 years old under the supervision of guerrilla leader

Iván Márquez Luciano Marín Arango, aka "Iván Márquez" (born June 16, 1955) is a Colombian guerrilla leader, member of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), part of its secretariat higher command and advisor to the Northwestern and Caribbea ...

, a high-ranking member within the FARC chain of command. Apparently his nickname "''Negro Acacio''" was given by "

Mono Jojoy Mono may refer to: Common meanings * Infectious mononucleosis, "the kissing disease" * Monaural, monophonic sound reproduction, often shortened to mono * Mono-, a numerical prefix representing anything single Music Performers * Mono (Japanese b ...

" after one of the "heroes" of the

Cuban Revolution The Cuban Revolution ( es, Revolución Cubana) was carried out after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état which placed Fulgencio Batista as head of state and the failed mass strike in opposition that followed. After failing to contest Batista in co ...

References

External links

Medina-Caracas, Tomas
DEA profile {{DEFAULTSORT:Medina Caracas, Tomas 1965 births 2007 deaths Deaths by firearm in Colombia Members of FARC Colombian drug traffickers Colombian guerrillas killed in action People from Cauca Department