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BOGOTA, Colombia – The U.S. Treasury Department is levying financial sanctions on four Colombians accused of laundering money for leftist rebels through a speciality grocer and money transfer shop in Switzerland.
The four individuals targeted Thursday as foreign narcotics kingpins ran a Zurich-based bodega called the Colombiano Latin Shop that authorities say served as a front for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and the man believed to be the guerrillas’ chief representative in France, Italy and Switzerland.
The store specialized in hard-to-find Latin delicacies, such as bottles of Inca Cola from Peru and Colombia’s anise-flavored aguardiente liqueur. The store’s website said it also offered to buy gold and perform money transfers.
The FARC were designated a major drug-trafficking organization by the U.S. government in 2003 and its top leadership has been indicted.