Colombian president orders seizure of paramilitary assets

The government has offered a reward of US$23,000 for information leading to the arrest of Izquierdo's killers.

The paramilitaries first emerged in the 1980s, bankrolled by ranchers and drug traffickers, in order to protect them from kidnappings and extortion attempts by leftist rebels.

But they later evolved into outlaws in military fatigues who got rich off of drug trafficking, massacred civilians suspected of collaborating with rebels and bought off and intimidated politicians.