A former Colombian guerrilla who murdered civilians to make them pass as combat casualties arrested in Alicante

El Zarco is once again in the hands of justice, but in Spain, not in his native Colombia.

For years, former guerrilla Luis J. Castro Ramírez led Colombian Army military units toward alleged targets considered enemies of the state.

Other times, it would show them the location of already deceased combatants.

In reality, they were peasants in disguise, whom El Zarco, Castro Ramírez's nickname, had recruited from other parts of the country.

He had promised them a job that didn't exist.

And, instead of a job, they found death: they were assassinated and the guerrilla made them pass as fallen in combat.

They were

the gloomy specialty of the criminal.

Wanted by his country through Interpol, he was arrested this Saturday in Benissa (Alicante), after an international device organized by the National Police.

Colombia and Spain are already processing his extradition, say police sources.

Castro, one of the most wanted criminals in Colombia, weighed an International Detention Order for different crimes, such as homicide and belonging to a criminal organization, for which he has a 40-year prison sentence pending in his country.

He is accused of the deaths of 14 young people captured as

and also the murder of four other people in 2007 and the delivery of another six to the National Liberation Army (ELN) - the last active guerrilla in Colombia, considered a terrorist by his country , The US and the EU - who were later executed.

Detained and released

This is the second time that the criminal has been located and arrested in Spain.

The first time was in 2018. The National Court agreed to hand him over to the South American country, but the extradition process was delayed and the Spanish authorities ended up releasing him after the deadlines ran out.

This Saturday, the day of the arrest, Colombian President Iván Duque released the news that El Zarco had been arrested.

The collaboration between the Spanish and Colombian Police, through Interpol, launched the search for the fugitive, of whom there was no trace of his stay in Spain after his release, according to sources in the investigation.

The new search began in A Coruña, because the investigators had proof that some of the Zarco's relatives resided in the Galician city.

The trail, however, took them to the other end of the country, to Benissa, a municipality of 13,000 inhabitants on the north coast of the province of Alicante, close to major tourist spots such as Calpe or Xàbia.

There, according to police sources, Castro was found in the home of relatives, with whom, apparently, he was spending a season.

The police operation was deployed around the house and, last Saturday, El Zarco finally went abroad.

He was immediately arrested, taken to the Alicante Police Station and brought to justice.

The National Court will be in charge of processing his extradition and delivery to the Colombian authorities.