22 December 2011 Last updated at 18:54 ET

Colombia drug gang Erpac begins surrender


Erpac is believed to control much of the drug-trafficking in eastern Colombia

The first members of a criminal gang said to control much of the drugs trade on Colombia's Eastern Plains have handed themselves to the authorities.

About 150 members of the Popular Revolutionary Anti-terrorist Army of Colombia (Erpac) were taken by helicopter from the Eastern Plains to a park in the city of Villavicencio.

They will remain in Villavicencio until judges decide their legal status.

A second group is due to surrender within days.

It is not yet clear why the group has decided to demobilise.

The attorney general's office said it had not negotiated with the gang members. A spokeswoman, Carmen Maritza Gonzalez, said they had chosen to surrender to the authorities.

The second group of about 150 members - including the group's leaders - is expected to hand themselves to the authorities before the end of the year and reveal where they hid their weapons.

Correspondents say the group's current leader, Jose Eberto Lopez (also known as Cara
cho), may be hoping to get lenient treatment for disbanding the group.

There is also speculation that other drug-gangs may have been putting pressure on them to take over their trafficking routes near the border with Venezuela.

Ever since the death of the group's top leader, Pedro Guerrero, better known by his alias, Cuchillo or Knife, there had been rumours about the possibility that the gang may disband.

One of Colombia's leading drug traffickers, Knife died a year ago at a ranch in the Eastern Plains where he had planned to spend Christmas. He was tracked down by the police and tried to escape but died when he fell into a river.

The police said he was drunk at the time.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-16311656