10/13/2010 6:29 PM ET

http://www.rttnews.com/Content/GeneralNews.aspx?Id=1444502&SM=1

(RTTNews) - Eleven people have been arrested in Spain and Ecuador on charges of laundering money for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and Colombian drug cartels, Spanish police announced Wednesday.

Spanish police officials said nine of the suspects were arrested in Ecuador, while the remaining two were detained in Spain. A total of 52 suspects have now been arrested in connection with the case, including the 41 Spain arrested in September.

Those arrested in Spain were accused of sending huge amounts of drug money to the Ecuadorian suspects, who in turn forwarded the money to the leftist FARC rebels and allied Colombian drug cartels.

The Ecuadorian suspects detained Wednesday were accused of helping to launder more than $279 million (200 million euros) made from cocaine sales in Europe. Their arrests were delayed due to a recent police revolt against President Rafael Correa.

The arrests in Spain and Ecuador were the result of a two-year long investigation launched in 2008 after Spanish authorities noticed unusually large amounts of money being transferred from Spain to Ecuador and Colombia.

Colombian authorities have also opened a parallel investigation into the case, and are currently checking the records of several recipients of the large money transfers from Spain and Ecuador.

The FARC rebels have been fighting the Colombian government for almost five decades in what is said to be Latin America's longest-running insurgency. The leftist guerrilla group is accused of using money generated from smuggling cocaine to fund its insurgency.

by RTT Staff Writer