Some forty Colombian FARC rebels moved across the border into Ecuador and kidnapped ten oil workers, including five Americans and two Frenchmen. Ecuador reported that the kidnappers said they were doing this in retaliation against the Colombian government's anti-drug campaign. The prisoners were taken back to Colombia by helicopter (which was first seized by the rebels). But FARC denied involvement, so the snatch could have been done by a criminal gang. About a quarter of the kidnappings in Colombia are by gangsters, the rest by rebels. The oil exploration site was deep in the Amazon jungle.