Colombia's largest leftist guerrilla group was behind the kidnapping of a Japanese farmer for the second time in three years, Colombian police confirmed Tuesday.
Shoro Shimura, a 72-year-old former member of the Yamanashi Prefecture Assembly who owns a farm in Colombia, was kidnapped Sept. 1 by 12 men from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) led by FARC's military commander, Jorge Briceno, better known as "Mono Jojoy" on the outskirts of Bogota, they said.
FARC was involved in the February kidnapping of another Japanese, Chikao Muramatsu, they added.
Muramatsu, the 52-year-old vice president of a local joint venture involving auto parts maker Yazaki Corp., is still being held by the guerrillas.
Police said they are searching for Shimura in FARC's stronghold, a heavily wooded region straddling the southern provinces of Caqueta and Meta, and where Muramatsu is believed to be.
FARC has already made a ransom demand to people close to Shimura, according to police. The amount is unknown.
Shimura, who began visiting Colombia around 1987, owns a farm with a Colombian in San Raimundo, Cundinamarca Province, about 30 km southwest of Bogota.
He was first kidnapped by FARC in September 1998 at a farm he had in Pasca in the same province, and was freed five months later after a 25 million yen ransom was paid.
Shimura returned to Colombia and had been staying in Bogota since August to run the San Raimundo farm.