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

Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People's Army (, FARC–EP or FARC) was a Marxist–Leninist Guerrilla warfare, guerrilla group involved in the continuing Colombian conflict starting in 1964. The FARC-EP was officially founded in ...

(FARC). He was considered by Colombian authorities to be the mastermind behind the illegal drug trade business and the head of the

Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc (Combloc), the Socialist Bloc, the Workers Bloc, and the Soviet Bloc, was an unofficial coalition of communist states of Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America that were a ...

's 16th Front of this rebel group. He gained notoriety during the FARC-Government peace process (1999-2002) as a key negotiator. He was also notorious for his association with

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

ian

drug dealer A drug is any chemical substance other than a nutrient or an essential dietary ingredient, which, when administered to a living organism, produces a biological effect. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalation, injection, smoking, ingestio ...

Fernandinho Beiramar and his involvement in a clandestine 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 an assault rifle that is chambered for the 7.62×39mm cartridge. Developed in the Soviet Union by Russian small-arms designer Mikhail Kala ...

s for the FARC through the Peruvian government official

Vladimiro Montesinos Vladimiro Lenin Ilich Montesinos Torres (; born May 20, 1945) is a Peruvian former intelligence officer and lawyer, most notorious for his role as the head of Peru's National Intelligence Service (SIN) during the presidency of Alberto Fujimor ...

, an adviser of former president of Peru,

Alberto Fujimori Alberto Kenji Fujimori Fujimori (26 July 1938 – 11 September 2024) was a Peruvian politician, professor, and engineer who served as the 54th president of Peru from 1990 to 2000.* * * * * * * Born in Lima, Fujimori was the country's fir ...

. Medina Caracas was killed on 1 September 2007, in a

Colombian Army The National Army of 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, and is the second largest army in the ...

military operation in eastern Colombia, within the municipality of

Cumaribo Cumaribo is a town and municipality located in the Department of Vichada, Republic of Colombia. Cumaribo was founded by Jose Nicolino Mattar in 1959. In 2005 the municipality had an estimated total population of 28,718 inhabitants, 4,312 of t ...

near the border with

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

. 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 Attorney General of Colombia (Attorney General of the Nation) is the head of the Attorney General's Office of the Nation of Colombia and the principal law enforcement official. The attorney general acts as the main head of criminal prosecuti ...

, 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 – INTERPOL (abbreviated as ICPO–INTERPOL), commonly known as Interpol ( , ; stylized in allcaps), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and crime cont ...

. 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 Kidnapping or abduction is the unlawful abduction and confinement of a person against their will, and is a crime in many jurisdictions. Kidnapping may be accomplished by use of force or fear, or a victim may be enticed into confinement by frau ...

, 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 Afro-Colombian origin. He became a teacher in a public school in the town of

Santander de Quilichao Santander de Quilichao is a city 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 department, and th ...

, northern

Cauca Department Cauca Department (, ) 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 to the northeast, Huila De ...

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 (born 16 June 1955), better known as Iván Márquez, 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 an ...

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

Cuban Revolution The Cuban Revolution () was the military and political movement that overthrew the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, who had ruled Cuba from 1952 to 1959. The revolution began after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état, in which Batista overthrew ...

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