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(TS//SI) Colombian Special Forces Unit Scores One for the Good Guys
-- SIGINT Enabling HUMINT at Its Best
FROM:
Deputy Chief, South American Narcotics (S2F13)
Run Date: 01/05/2005
SIGINT and HUMINT lead to ambush of narcoterrorist leader (TS//SI)
(TS//SI) After eleven months of intense collaboration among Colombia, CIA, MRSOC , and NSA
headquarters, units from the Colombian Special Forces ambushed one of Colombia's most
notorious narcoterrorists, a commander in the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC),
and his entourage who were en-route to a birthday party on a farm in the Huila department of
Colombia. The satisfactory result of this operation clearly demonstrates the extraordinary
positive results possible when SIGINT and HUMINT are fused to provide a complete,
comprehensive, and timely picture of events that allowed for this specific operation to take
place.
(TS//SI) Over seventy different NSA SIGINT reports were approved for foreign release against
this target set. SIGINT produced by analysts at MRSOC and NSA headquarters provided CIA with
information to be shared with Colombian vetted units. The fusion of SIGINT with information
from CIA sources allowed the Colombians to formulate a plan to capture Commander Valbuena.
(TS//SI) The November 22, 2004 Colombian Army ambush and the subsequent death of this
commander were the direct results of these efforts. Humberto Valbuena Morales has been
described as one of the most important leaders of the infamous Teofilo Forero Column (TFC) of
the FARC, wanted for kidnappings, bombings, and extortion by the Colombian authorities. He
was part of the group responsible for holding the three (still missing) U.S. hostages whose
aircraft went down in Colombia in 2003 (see related story ), and was involved in planning
attacks on Americans in Bogota, Colombia.
(U) FARC insurgents
"(U//FOUO) SIDtoday articles may not be republished or reposted outside NSANet
without the consent of S0121 (DL sid_comms)."
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DERIVED FROM: NSA/CSSM 1-52, DATED 08 JAN 2007 DECLASSIFY ON: 20320108