Colombia: French Legionnaire Seized in Nariño While on Home Leave
Colombia · SECURITY
Key Facts
- —Date The army says the soldier was seized on August 6, 2026, in Cumbitara.
- —Status He was on leave in Colombia, not on any French deployment or mission.
- —Suspicion Army documents point to FARC dissidents, but no group has been confirmed.
- —Context Any kidnapping in Nariño now sits against 651 Colombian kidnappings recorded in 2025.
- —Advice Germany, France, Britain and the United States all warn about travel in Nariño.
Colombia’s army reports a French-Colombian legionnaire seized on August 6, a kidnapping in Nariño that remains under investigation.
Colombia’s army has reported that a French-Colombian corporal of the French Foreign Legion was seized in Nariño on August 6. The case became public on August 28, and it points to a wider pattern of kidnapping in Nariño.
What Colombian authorities have reported
The army’s anti-kidnapping unit, known as Gaula, says the soldier was taken on August 6 in rural Cumbitara. Cumbitara sits in the Patía river canyon, one of the hardest corners of Nariño to reach.
Colonel Mauricio Osorio, commander of the Gaula unit of Army Brigade 23, described the case to Blu Radio in late August. He said the soldier was on leave in his country of origin when he was intercepted.
El Tiempo reported that the man was stopped at an illegal checkpoint near the Puerto Remolino bridge over the Patía. The formal complaint was filed on August 12, six days after the reported interception.
Osorio said the army was still analysing testimony to establish with certainty which group holds him. That caution matters, and it is the reason this kidnapping in Nariño remains an open investigation.
On leave, not on deployment
This distinction is often blurred in early coverage. The Colombian army says the man was visiting family, not serving on any French mission in Colombia.
Reports describe a personal trip home rather than any French operation in Colombia. He holds both Colombian and French nationality and had served four years in the Legion.
Colombia has become one of the Legion’s main recruiting countries. A 2024 French Army briefing named Nepal, Brazil and Colombia as the three dominant nationalities among recruits.
Who is suspected, and on what basis
No group has claimed responsibility in public. Agence France-Presse, the French state news agency, reported that army documents point to dissidents of the former FARC guerrilla.
Those dissidents rejected the 2016 peace accord with the FARC, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. Many now fight under the Estado Mayor Central, or Central General Staff, led by the alias Iván Mordisco.
El Tiempo reported that investigators are looking preliminarily at a structure called Franco Benavides. The army lists that structure among the groups active in Cumbitara and the surrounding canyon.
None of this is a finding of fact, and the army itself has not settled the question. Any kidnapping in Nariño can involve several rival structures along the same road.
Why Nariño draws armed groups
Nariño is Colombia’s coca heartland. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime ranked Tumaco, on the Nariño coast, first nationally with 31,300 hectares in 2024.
The same survey, published on June 26, 2026, put national coca planting at 261,000 hectares. That was the highest reading since monitoring began in 1999.
Coca is not the only economy at stake. The army’s own quarterly report for Nariño names illegal gold mining alongside cocaine as the funding base.
Army reporting for early 2026 names FARC dissident structures, the Segunda Marquetalia and the Comuneros del Sur. It also places the ELN, the National Liberation Army, in the department through one of its fronts.
Kidnapping is rising across Colombia
The trend is national, not local. Ministry of Defence figures show 651 kidnappings in Colombia in 2025, against 313 in 2024.
Of the 2025 total, 477 were classed as extortive kidnappings and 174 as simple kidnappings. The extortive figure was the highest in a decade.
The same ministry counted 56 cases in January and February 2026, up from 50 a year earlier. Simple kidnappings nearly doubled within that comparison.
The International Committee of the Red Cross called 2025 Colombia’s worst humanitarian year in a decade. Its May 2026 report recorded 308 new disappearances and sharply higher displacement.
Fundación Ideas para la Paz, a Bogotá research group, counted 27,121 armed group members in 2025. That was 23.5 percent above its 2024 count, based on security force estimates.
Earlier cases involving foreign nationals
Foreign nationals are taken in Nariño, though rarely. In July 2024, three Indian citizens were kidnapped near the Ecuador border and later rescued in Ipiales.
Colombian media attributed that case to the Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan criminal network. The army’s Gaula unit carried out the rescue operation.
Colombian security personnel are taken far more often. A police officer and two soldiers seized in Cumbitara had been held for more than eight months, local officials said.
Nariño’s governor, Luis Alfonso Escobar, publicly demanded their release in August 2026. He asked their captors to send a signal of peace.
What four governments tell travellers
Germany’s Federal Foreign Office keeps a partial travel warning for Colombia, current on August 28, 2026. It strongly advises against travel to Nariño, excepting the capital Pasto and the Ipiales border crossing.
France’s foreign ministry places almost all of Nariño in its red category, formally advised against. Its country page describes Nariño as an area of endemic violence on a main cocaine route.
The United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office updated its Colombia advice on August 26, 2026. It advises against all but essential travel to the South Pacific, Sanquianga and Telembí areas of Nariño.
That office also advises against travel within five kilometres of the Ecuador border. It excludes the Rumichaca crossing on the Pan-American Highway and the city of Ipiales.
The United States advisory for Colombia, dated March 31, 2026, sits at Level 3, reconsider travel. It lists several departments at Level 4, do not travel, and flags kidnapping as a risk.
Reactions, and what has not been said
The Colombian army made the case public through its own reporting in late August 2026. Colonel Osorio’s radio comments remain the fullest official account so far.
No statement from the French embassy in Bogotá had been published as of August 28, 2026. The French armed forces ministry had also issued no public comment on the case.
President Abelardo de la Espriella took office on August 7, 2026, one day after the reported abduction. His government has promised direct confrontation with armed groups rather than negotiation.
For residents and visitors, the practical reading is narrow. A kidnapping in Nariño is most likely on rural roads that four governments already advise against.
Frequently Asked Questions
Was the French Foreign Legion soldier on duty in Colombia?
No. Colombia’s army says he was on leave in his country of origin when he was taken.
Who is suspected of the kidnapping in Nariño?
Army documents cited by Agence France-Presse point to FARC dissidents. The army says it has not yet established which structure holds him.
Is it safe to travel to Nariño now?
Germany, France and Britain advise against travel to most of Nariño. The United States rates Colombia at Level 3, reconsider travel.
Connected Coverage
Sources
- www.france24.com
- www.eltiempo.com
- acento.com.do
- www.lalibre.be
- www.infobae.com
- www.eltiempo.com
- www.elnuevosiglo.com.co
- www.icrc.org
- www.infobae.com
- www.elespectador.com
- www.auswaertiges-amt.de
- www.diplomatie.gouv.fr
- www.gov.uk
- travel.state.gov
- www.elpais.com.co
- www.opex360.com
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