• 28 people were arrested, including three members of the National Police and a Colombian Migration officer.
  • One of the largest seizures of synthetic drugs was achieved in the procedures. Simultaneously, assets valued at more than 5.6 billion pesos were seized.

The investigative activities of the Attorney General’s Office against drug trafficking groups and small-scale drug dealing networks revealed one of the largest criminal networks involved in the processing and sale of synthetic drugs on a large scale, of which alleged members of the gangs ‘La Terraza’ and ‘Caicedo’, and public servants would be part.

“As a result of the ‘Argenta’ strategy designed to impact the finances of criminal structures, the Sectional Directorate in Medellín and the Special Directorate for Assets Seizure managed to prosecute 28 members of one of the largest networks involved in the preparation and commercialization of synthetic drugs,” said the Attorney General, Francisco Barbosa Delgado.

The actions were carried out in 36 home searches in Medellín, La Estrella, Sabaneta, Andes, San Francisco, Bello, and Santa Fe de Antioquia (Antioquia); and Cartagena (Bolivar).

During the procedures, 12 kilograms of 2-CB or pink cocaine were seized, one of the largest findings of this type of drug in the country. Additionally, more than 400 million pesos in national and foreign currency, 10 firearms, and computers were seized.

A transnational criminal business

The drug trafficking organization would be involved in the export of synthetic drugs to the United States and countries in Europe, the Caribbean, and South America. Plenty of evidence indicates that, apparently, it recruited men and women in various municipalities of Antioquia and convinced them to travel to international destinations by hiding illicit substances in their luggage or on their bodies.

Some of the travelers went directly to Puerto Rico or the United States. Others made a stopover in Argentina and took flights to the Netherlands, Germany, and Spain, among other countries.

The investigators established that some of the members of this network apparently also recruited young people and transferred them to Cartagena (Bolívar) or Miami (United States) to sexually exploit them for commercial purposes. Likewise, it was learned that a group would also have been linked to the theft of copper wire from public service companies in Medellín.

The arrested people

Among those arrested in this gigantic operation are three members of the National Police and a Colombian Migration officer who, allegedly, allowed the departure of synthetic drugs through the José María Córdova airport, in Rionegro (Antioquia)

The 28 arrested people were brought before a judge and will be charged according to the level of responsibility with conspiracy to commit a crime for drug trafficking purposes; trafficking, manufacture or possession of drugs; manufacturing, trafficking, possession of firearms, accessories, parts or ammunition; active bribery (offering or giving); own bribery; and escape of prisoners.

A hard blow dealt to the illicit patrimony

Simultaneously with the criminal process, prosecutors from the Special Directorate for Assets Seizure imposed precautionary measures such as suspension of power to alienate property and a seizure process on two farms properties, a nightclub, an apartment, two parking lots, four vehicles and a motorcycle that were allegedly purchased with money derived from the illegal activities of this organization. The assets are valued at more than 5.6 billion pesos.

Sociedad de Activos Especiales (SAE) is now in charge of the properties for their administration.

“As I announced in Cartagena last Tuesday, in the development of an offensive against drug trafficking, the Prosecutor’s Office attacks groups dedicated to transnational drug trafficking that commit crimes in the ports and coasts of the country, but it also impacts the other part of this chain, which is the micro-trafficking in the cities where it affects the economy, public safety, but above all, it also affects the rights of children and adolescents who are subjected to the commercialization of this micro-trafficking ”, concluded the Attorney General.

When we speak, results follow.

The information contained in this press release corresponds to the narration of the objective news provided by the officials in charge of carrying out criminal investigations within the Office of the Attorney General. By the time this communication is disclosed, the legal status of the people mentioned is still pending to be resolved by the competent judicial authority, always under the presumption of innocence contemplated by Article 29 of the Political Constitution and Article 7 of Law 906 of 2004.