The group killed nine men and a woman in the municipality of Santa Rosa de Osos located in the state of Antioquia, about 275 kilometers northeast of the capital of Bogota, said Santiago Londono, government secretary for Antioquia.
It's the first major massacre in Colombia since August 2009 when 12 members of the Awa indigenous tribe were killed in the southwestern state of Narino. At the time, a prosecutor investigating the case said the killings had been committed by Los Rastrojos.
The "Rastrojos," or Leftovers, is a violent offshoot of the Norte del Valle cartel involved in drug trafficking, extortion and murder as it competes with other criminal bands that grew out of the far-right militias known as paramilitaries.
Colombian police say the gang, which is thought to have hundreds of members, operates on Colombia's Pacific coast and along the border with Venezuela.
Antioquia Police General David Guzman said three armed men arrived at the farm around 6 p.m. Wednesday as farm laborers were finishing their day of work picking the fruit, which is also known as tamarillo. They asked the peasants if they were paying an extortion fee. When the peasants said they didn't know, the men shot them with rifles and handguns and tossed a grenade at them.
"One of the laborers, apparently the foreman, said he didn't know (of any payment). That's all they said and they were shot indiscriminately," Guzman said. "This case has shocked us for the barbaric, brutal way that they murdered these completely innocent people," he said.
Several leaders of the Rastrojos were captured last week in the area and officials are blaming the group for the latest bloodshed. Authorities have been unable to reach the farm and collect the bodies because of bad weather, said Londono, the government secretary for Antioquia.
Francisco Jair Lopera, the mayor of Santa Rosa de Osos, called the massacre a source of "national shame."
Lopera said the victims were in their 30s and 40s and that the owner of the farm was apparently being extorted by the paramilitary group.
"They also extort milk producers and people from small-scaled growers of tree tomatoes," he said.
In a local radio interview, Minister Juan Carlos Pinzon vowed to go after the killers.
"It's the typical barbaric act without explanation" Pinzon said. "It deserves our full attention and our resolve."
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Associated Press writer Cesar Garcia reported from Bogota and Luis Benavides reported from Santa Rosa de Osos, Colombia.
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Follow the AP's Cesar Garcia on Twitter: https://twitter.com/cgarcia_ap
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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