Overview
- Colombian authorities handed over Geovany Andrés Rojas to U.S. officials on Friday after a heavily guarded transfer at a police air base, and he was flown to San Diego and placed in federal custody.
- U.S. prosecutors say Rojas, known as “Spider,” led Comandos de la Frontera and faces charges including international conspiracy to distribute cocaine and narco‑terrorism tied to operations in Colombia and Ecuador since 2017.
- Rojas was arrested in Bogotá in February 2025 and the Colombian Supreme Court approved his extradition last October, but former president Gustavo Petro delayed the transfer by naming Rojas a peace negotiator.
- President Abelardo De La Espriella personally supervised the handoff and has made extraditions and military action central to his hardline security agenda that shifts away from negotiation with dissident groups.
- Rights groups warn the tougher approach could raise the risk of rights abuses and more violence in rural regions where dissident factions profit from cocaine, illegal mining and extortion, while supporters say it targets the criminal chains that fuel the drug trade.