- The Office of the Attorney General, in conjunction with the National Police and the military forces, gave a hard blow against transnational drug trafficking structures and micro-trafficking networks in Cauca, Valle del Cauca and Nariño in 17 days.
- Three organizations allegedly involved in transporting drugs to Central America and Europe were dismantled. Three of their alleged members are wanted with a view to extradition.
The Attorney General, Francisco Barbosa Delgado, and his executive staff arrived in Cauca and held a meeting with the military and police commanders who lead the Atalanta Campaign (Campaña Atalanta) which is an inter-institutional effort to combat criminality in the southwest part of the country and to restrain the illicit purposes of dissident groups responsible for murders and threats against the population.
The strategies to increase the investigative and operational capacity against drug trafficking, which is the main illicit income of organized crime, were ratified at the meeting. In this sense, differential plans will be intensified in the territories by integrating capacities of the sectional offices, the headquarters and by articulating efforts with the public force.
Thanks to this work, a gigantic offensive was launched in the southwestern part of the country and 150 people were arrested and just over 9.2 tons of drugs (5,311 kilograms of cocaine hydrochloride, 3,494 kilograms of marijuana and 400 kilograms of other substances) were seized.
In 17 days of search warrants, three large structures involved in the shipment of cocaine and marijuana from the Colombian Pacific to international markets, as well as micro-trafficking networks operating in municipalities of Valle del Cauca, Cauca and Nariño, received a hard blow. The most outstanding results in two fronts were:
- Drug trafficking
As a result of the operations carried out under the leadership of the Special Directorate against Drug Trafficking in 12 municipalities of Valle del Cauca, 4 of Cauca and 5 of Nariño, 36 people were arrested, 3 of them with extradition purposes.
In the joint operations carried out by the military forces, the National Police and the US agencies DEA and FBI, 5.4 tons of drugs were seized (3,621 of cocaine hydrochloride and 1,784 kilograms of marijuana). Also,1,200 gallons of supplies, about of 690 million pesos, 3 vehicles and 4 motor ships.
Three structures with a transnational scope were impacted:
- ‘Punto Fijo’
This drug trafficking network is accused of transporting creepy-type marijuana from Corinto (Cauca) to Florida (Valle del Cauca) and camouflaged in furniture and household items. Then, the organization took the drug to Riohacha (La Guajira) and coordinated its transport to a place known as Punto Fijo, located in the coast of Falcón (Venezuela). There, the drug was shipped to the islands of the Caribbean, the United States and European countries.
In a joint action, the Attorney General’s Office and DIJIN – National Police, arrested 9 alleged members of this structure in Cali and Florida (Valle del Cauca), Corinto (Cauca), Sandoná (Nariño), Ibagué (Tolima) and Bogotá.
People arrested are: alias Jerley, who allegedly collected marijuana in Cauca and coordinated the way to take it to La Guajira; alias Vaca, alleged financier and coordinator of the concealment; and alias Fabio and Lolo who were in charge of establishing the routes, accompanying the transport of the caches and alerting about the controls carried out by the authorities on the road.
19 of the members of this drug trafficking organization have been arrested and 2 tons of marijuana have been seized in the course of the investigations.
- ‘Sol’
The evidence shows that this drug trafficking organization extracted marijuana from crops and greenhouses located in municipalities of Valle del Cauca, Cauca and Nariño. The narcotic was pressed and camouflaged in wooden articles, transported to the Pacific Coast and sent in speedboats to Central American countries.
The Office of the Attorney General and the Anti-Narcotics Directorate of the National Police arrested 12 people who were allegedly part of ‘Sol’ organization, among them, the alleged funders, coordinators of logistics, transporters, and intermediaries. The detainees were brought before court for trafficking, manufacture or possession of drugs, and aggravated conspiracy to commit a crime. In two years of investigations, 21 members have been arrested and 2 and a half tons of marijuana have been seized.
- ‘Naya’
The evidence revealed that this drug trafficking organization allegedly had an illegal corridor on the Naya River, between Cauca and Valle del Cauca, which was used to process cocaine and take shipments to the Pacific. Then, the organization transported the drugs to the shores of Chocó and shipped them to Central America.
Six people were arrested in joint proceedings carried out by the Office of the Attorney General and the Dijin-National Police in Cali (Valle del Cauca), Medellín (Antioquia), and Bahía Solano (Chocó).
Three of the people arrested are wanted by the United States with a view to extradition and they are: alias Enano, alleged liaison with the drug trafficking networks of Costa Rica, Mexico, Honduras, Ecuador and Panama; also alias Barriga, who was allegedly in charge of coordinating the transport of caches in speedboats; and alias Mina, who would be in charge of conditioning the boats and acquiring engines, communication radios and fuel, and sometimes he allegedly accompanied the departure of several of the shipments since he knew about the maritime routes in Chocó.
- Micro-trafficking
The Delegate Office on Public Safety, through its Sectional Offices in the southwestern part of the country, carried out 93 search warrants in the last 10 days. As a result, 114 people were arrested, 3.8 tons of drugs (1,710 of marijuana, 1.69 kilograms of cocaine and 400 kilograms of bazuco- a smokeable form of coca paste- and other substances) and 33 firearms were seized.
There were 60 seizures in 26 operations carried out in Cali (Valle del Cauca). In other municipalities of the department, such as Buenaventura, Buga, Restrepo, Tuluá, Sevilla Roldanillo and Cartago, arrests amounted to 38. The dismantling of two structures, Los Piña and Los Exportadores, stands out; as well as the arrest of alias Cheo, leader of the criminal gang La Local, in Buenaventura.
In Nariño, 13 alleged members of micro-trafficking networks were arrested in Pasto, Ipiales, Tumaco, Chachaguí, Buesaco and Leiva. In Popayán (Cauca) three people were arrested. Two of them would be leaders of gangs involved in the sale of drugs in residential units and public places.
The Office of the Attorney General makes this information public for reasons of general interest.
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 the 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.