• The precautionary measures on suspension of power to alienate a property were carried out in Urabá and the coffee-growing region.

  • The Attorney General, Francisco Barbosa Delgado, revealed this hard blow at the meeting ‘Lucha contra las Organizaciones Criminales Transnacionales y sus finanzas’ (Fight against Transnational Criminal Organizations and their finances) which was held in Santa Marta. 

A joint action between the Office of the Attorney General, through the Delegate Office against Criminal Finances, and the National Police allowed them to give a hard blow against the financial network of the so-called ‘Clan del Golfo’ that allegedly used to hide its illegal income and support its criminal structure in Urabá and in the Atlantic Coast. 

As a result of the proceedings carried out in Rionegro and other municipalities in Antioquia, Risaralda and Quindío, seven people who would be part of this structure were arrested, among them, the alleged ringleader John Fredy Zapata Garzón, alias Candado or Messi. This person was considered as an ‘invisible narco’, since he hid for several years and his illegal activities were unknown by the authorities. 

The evidence allowed us to know that alias Candado, together with the other alleged members of the aforementioned organization were at the service of the ringleaders of the ‘Clan del Golfo’ since 2012 to acquire, invest, keep, guard and manage personal property, real estate and companies, some of these facades used to launder huge amounts of money. 

Likewise, there is evidence showing that to facilitate the concealment of the money, professional soccer players and musical groups were allegedly sponsored. For these facts, the Office of the Attorney General will charge the seven arrested people with aggravated money laundering, aggravated criminal conspiracy to commit crimes, and illicit gain. 

Millionaire seizure aimed at suspending the power to alienate a property 

Against this same organization involved in money laundering activities, the Special Directorate on Assets Seizure of the Office of the Attorney General imposed precautionary measures such as suspension of power to alienate a property on properties that would belong to alias Candado and his alleged accomplices, whose value would exceed 4 trillion. 

“We are dismantling these criminal structures and directly attacking the illegal economies that accompany these crimes,” said Attorney General Francisco Barbosa Delgado. 

The properties were seized after operations were carried out in the regions of Urabá and the coffee-growing region. These are 33 properties, 37 vehicles, 6 companies, 4 commercial establishments, 6 companies, 24 bank accounts and 1,088 livestock. 

The assets that were seized will be place under the authority of  Sociedad de Activos Especiales (SAE). 

This result was announced by the Attorney General during the meeting ‘Lucha contra las Organizaciones Criminales Transnacionales y sus finanzas’, which took place in Santa Marta (Magdalena) in which a commission of the United States government and of the Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance and Training (OPDAT) participated. 

During the meeting, they discussed about judicial cooperation issues and the challenges posed by transnational crime. In that sense, the Attorney General explained the prioritization of investigations against illegal finances, one of the main axes of the 2020-2024 Strategic Direction 

“The fight against criminality, against the assets of these criminals, has to be one of the essential values ​​of this cooperation. Each Prosecutor who is pursuing criminals has to be accompanied by a prosecutor assigned to the Office against Money Laundering, a prosecutor assigned to the Office on Assets Seizure and, at the same time, accompany actions related to illicit gain” said the Attorney General. 

The Office of the Attorney General makes this information public for reasons of general interest.