The ATS case against Drummond was brought by the heirs to 113 Colombians allegedly murdered by the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC). The AUC was Colombia’s largest rightwing paramilitary group, but had been largely demobilized by 2006, lured by government offers of light prison sentences in exchange for testifying about the group’s crimes. Based largely on the testimony of demobilized paramilitary leaders, the complaint by controversial "human rights" attorney Terry Collingsworth and others (174-page complaint) alleges that by 1999 Drummond began colluding with the AUC after leftist guerrillas targeted the company’s mining and transportation operations. Key witnesses include former paramilitary leaders Salvatore Mancuso, Rodrigo “Jorge 40” Tovar, Jhon Jairo Equivel Cuadrado, as well as Rafael García, a former official of Colombia’s intelligence service, known as the DAS.
