The Colombian authorities say they have dismantled a kidnapping ring that abducted people in south and central America to fund the country's second-largest rebel group.

A total of 13 suspected guerrillas of the National Liberation Army (ELN) were arrested in the Colombian cities of Bogota, Cali and Medellin over the past few days, following a two-year probe.

The ring operated out of Bogota and had links with leftist groups in Chile, Ecuador, Peru and Mexico, said army general Reynaldo Castellanos.

Kidnap victims families were contacted over the Internet with the operation taking about $15m (�10m), split among the groups, according to Guillermo Ortega, director of the attorney-general's investigative agency.

Kidnap capital

Kidnappings had taken place in Argentina, Ecuador, Venezuela and some central American nations.

A Red Cross worker helps freed ELN captive Humberto Reyes in 2000

The ring's leader had been captured in July and his successor was one of those arrested in the latest swoop, General Castellanos said.

Created in 1964, the Cuban-inspired ELN has about 5,000 fighters, second only to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia or FARC.

The ELN says it is fighting for socialist reforms.

Last month the group stopped a bus carrying tourists in the northern coastal province of Choco and took 27 of them captive.

Kidnappings have reached record levels in Colombia, where 3,700 were abducted last year.

Meanwhile, a new report has highlighted the plight of those displaced in the 38-year conflict.

The report by the non-governmental group Codhes - the Consultancy for Human Rights and Displacement - says 300,000 people were driven from their homes last year, and another 200,000 in the first half of 2002.

Codhes has announced it is organising a conference in Bogota to focus attention on displaced people.