Colombian authorities captured the top leader accused of organizing the series of attacks that put the country’s southwest on edge last weekend. Among the attacks, the most serious was the explosion of a bomb on the Pan-American Highway, which left 21 dead and dozens injured in the department of Cauca.
The detainee, known by the aliases David or Mi Pez, is believed to belong to dissident factions of the former FARC operating in Cauca and Valle del Cauca, and which are part of the criminal organization led by alias Ivan Mordisco.
According to authorities, this individual allegedly played a central role in coordinating the attacks which, in less than three days, included explosions, armed harassment, and assaults on military facilities.
Colombia captures key leader behind last weekend’s attacks
On the morning of Tuesday, April 28, Colombia’s Military Forces and National Police reported the arrest of Alex Vitonco Andela, known as alias David or MiPez, the main leader of the Dagoberto Ramos structure, a faction of the Western Bloc Jacobo Arenas of the FARC dissidents, under the command of alias Ivan Mordisco.
According to police, this individual would be responsible for the attacks recorded on Friday and Saturday of last week in the departments of Valle del Cauca and Cauca, both in the south of the country. Authorities maintain that his arrest allows progress in identifying the network that carried out the offensive.
The deadliest attack occurred on Saturday on the Pan-American Highway, near the municipality of Cajibio. According to initial reports, the explosive was detonated as several civilian vehicles were traveling through the area. The blast caused a scene of destruction that affected buses, private cars, and motorcycles. The victims were mostly civilians traveling along the road.
Investigations suggest the attack took place in the context of an illegal checkpoint set up by the armed group. Witnesses reported that armed men stopped traffic minutes before the explosion, reinforcing the hypothesis of a premeditated action. The magnitude of the attack makes it one of the most serious against civilians in recent years in that region.
The violence was not limited to that location. At the same time, attacks were reported in Cali, Palmira, and other municipalities in Valle del Cauca, where explosives were thrown at military facilities and clashes with security forces were reported. In total, authorities counted more than twenty violent actions across different نقاط in the country’s southwest.
¡Vamos tras los criminales!
Hemos activado una recompensa de hasta $500 millones por información que permita dar con el paradero de alias ‘David’ o ‘Mi Pez’, responsable de múltiples hechos de terrorismo, entre ellos el atentado contra el representante a la Cámara Julio César… pic.twitter.com/y34ZUZ4h3A
— Pedro Arnulfo Sanchez S. Orgullosamente Colombiano (@PedroSanchezCol) August 17, 2025
Alias Ivan Mordisco and the war against the Petro government
Behind these events are dissident structures that did not sign the 2016 peace agreement and that now maintain an armed presence in several rural areas. These organizations are competing for control of drug trafficking routes, illegal mining, and other illicit economies, which has intensified clashes in strategic regions.
The main of these groups is made up of different fronts under the command of alias Ivan Mordisco, who has been waging a direct war for months against the State and against the government of President Petro.
In fact, this individual has become a symbol of the failure of the government’s peace policy, following a failed negotiation process that did not achieve its objective of ending a wave of violence that—as the Colombian president said last night—responds solely to the logic of drug trafficking groups, with no ideology or political objective.
What is clear is that, following the attacks, the government reinforced the military presence in the country’s southwest and ordered operations to locate other perpetrators. It also reiterated that these are terrorist actions aimed at generating fear and pressure among the civilian population, with the goal of influencing the presidential elections in May.
The official response has focused on intensifying operations and strengthening intelligence in the region and, according to this police report, appears to have yielded its first results with the arrest of alias Mi Pez.