BOGOTA — The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Saturday confirmed the release of Armenian Arsen Voskanyan, who was held captive by the Cimarron Resistance Front of the ELN, Colombia’s second-largest rebel group, Vanguardia reports.
“This morning a person of foreign nationality who was detained by the ELN was handed over to a humanitarian mission of the ICRC at the rural area of the department of Chocó,” the organization said in a statement.
According to the authorities, the Armenian citizen was kidnapped in Pizarro, Chocó when he was looking for golden frogs to export them – apparently illegally – from the country.
In a communication intercepted by the authorities, the rebels said that they had a Russian citizen in their possession.
The golden frog produces a deadly toxin used in laboratories in Europe to manufacture pain drugs. These animals are sold up to 1,500 euros on the illegal market.
