In the other five departments of the Caribbean region, another 19 criminal groups received a hard blow in the last month.

The Attorney General, Francisco Barbosa Delgado, traveled to Barranquilla (Atlántico) in the company of the Deputy Attorney General, Martha Janeth Mancera; and the Delegate Director on Public Safety, Luisa Fernanda Obando Guerrero, to monitor the investigative actions to combat delinquency and criminality in the Caribbean region, as well as crimes that affect public safety.

“We want to tell the country that the Attorney General’s Office, within the framework of strengthening the Investigative strategy in parks and neighborhoods of this department, has dismantled 38 criminal organizations. 15 of them were involved in thefts, 6 to extortion, 10 to micro-trafficking and 7 to other crimes. In Barranquilla, 22 of those organizations were dismantled” stated the Attorney General

According to the investigations, these gangs affected citizens’ tranquility in the municipalities of Candelaria, Manatí, Sabanalarga, Palmar de Varela, Baranoa, Malambo, Soledad and Barranquilla.

Among the structures that received a hard blow are Los Petizos, Los Concretos, Los Eron, Los Tarjeteros Electrónicos and Los Diez.

The latest group began its criminal activity in 2020 according to the evidence. A prosecutor appointed to the Unit of Support Unidad de Estructura de Apoyo has prosecuted 8 of its alleged members who allegedly committed thefts in buses in Atlántico.

Based on the evidence presented in the hearings, a judge imposed a prison sentence against 7 of the defendants and house arrest for another one, for the crime of aggravated theft.

The Attorney General Barbosa also announced the progress made concerning the clarification of different crimes such as homicide and domestic violence. He pointed out that the Sectional Office in Atlántico also clarified 100% of femicides as Cesar, San Andrés, Meta and Casanare did.

  • Results against crime in the Caribbean Region

Operations were carried out in the departments of La Guajira, Magdalena, Cesar, Atlántico, Bolívar and Sucre in the last month and 24 criminal structures received a hard blow.

In total, 1,018 people were arrested, 261 of them by virtue of a court order and 757 in flagrante delicto, for crimes such as drug trafficking (321), illegal possession of weapons (310), theft (234), domestic violence (64), homicide (42), sexual crimes (36) and other conducts (11). The Attorney General’s Office obtained 427 detention measures.

As a result of the operations, 1,480 kilos of cocaine, 583 kilos of marijuana, 265 firearms, 42 cell phones and $ 138,430,500 in cash were seized.

One of the relevant results was achieved in the department of Magdalena, in which the criminal structure Conquistadores de la Sierra, known as ‘Los Pachencas’, was dismantled. 39 alleged members were arrested, 27 of them during home searches and 11 were notified in prison and police stations.

After the hearings, prison sentences were pronounced against 25 of the defendants while the remaining people continue with the proceedings.

The defendants were charged with aggravated homicide, aggravated criminal conspiracy to commit crimes, aggravated extortion; trafficking, manufacture, or possession of drugs; manufacture, possession of a firearm, parts, or ammunition; and illicit gain.

This gang is accused of the commission of selective homicides, extortion of merchants which collected up to $ 500 million per month, and drug trafficking through distribution for the later commercialization.

The investigation, which began in 2019, shows that the structure affected the security in the area of Sierra Nevada, of Troncal del Caribe, as well as the municipalities of Magdalena, Cesar, Atlántico and La Guajira.

With the dismantling of this criminal gang, 12 homicides are clarified. 11 of them were committed in the urban area of ​​Santa Marta and one in the department of La Guajira.

Likewise, due to the monitoring and surveillance activities, among other judicial police activities, other criminal gangs were dismantled in this Department.  These are Los Brilladores, Los Monacos, Los Aquaman, El Combo de Chupeta, Los Jordan, Los Informáticos and Clan Del Golfo 4 .

  • Interinstitutional work•

During the visit to the Sectional Office in Atlántico, the Attorney General and his staff held a meeting with the commanders of the Police, Army, Navy and Air Force in this department to coordinate actions to combat crime in the region.

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.