Gigantic operational and judicial offensive against the ‘Clan del Golfo’

• 90 alleged members of this criminal structure were arrested in proceedings carried out simultaneously in seven departments of the country.
• This result allowed progress in the clarification of 27 homicides that occurred during the year in Cesar, Bolívar and Córdoba.

The Office of the Attorney General, the National Police and the National Army, through the Seventh Division – Seventeenth Brigade, launched a national offensive to structurally impact the armed, financial, drug trafficking and logistical components of the so-called ‘Clan del Golfo’.

As a result of eight operational and judicial actions, 90 alleged members of this organized crime structure were arrested (74 by virtue of a court order and 16 in flagrante delicto). A total of 65 raids were carried out in 23 municipalities in seven departments (Antioquia, Atlántico, Bolívar, Cesar, Chocó, Cordoba and Magdalena).

The proceedings were led by a team of eight prosecutors from the Special Directorate against Criminal Organizations and another three from the sectional offices. The detainees were brought before judges and charged with homicide, forced disappearance; manufacture and possession of narcotic drugs; manufacture and possession of firearms; extortion and aggravated conspiracy to commit a crime.

This result and the evidence obtained allowed the progress in the clarification of 27 murders, two homicide attempts and one case of forced disappearance that occurred during the year in Cesar, Córdoba and Bolívar.

The offensive allowed the location of cash, 22 firearms, cartridges of different calibers, explosives, 36 communication equipment, 6 vehicles and a significant amount of uniforms, boots, vests and backpacks.

High impact cases

With this inter-institutional operation, four structures and 11 substructures of the ‘Clan del Golfo’ were affected. Some relevant cases are:

• 25 alleged members of the Diomedes Dionisio Ortega Ramos commission were arrested in Valledupar, Agustín Codazzi, Bosconia, El Copey, Aguachica and Gamarra (Cesar). Among the detainees is the urban leader in the department known as ‘Arturo’; and the alleged head of the armed structures in Valledupar known as ‘Chiche’.

With this action, progress was made in the clarification of 12 homicides perpetrated this year. Likewise, the actions of several people in charge of committing extortion, drug trafficking and other illicit conduct were brought to an end.

• 22 people who would be part of the Héroes del Caribe substructure were arrested in El Carmen de Bolívar, San Jacinto and María la Baja (Bolívar). Hernán Mejía Galindo, alias Marlon, alleged main leader of this illegal group is one of the detainees. The investigations show that he would be in charge of 168 armed men, who would be responsible for executing selective homicides, drug trafficking activities and extortions against merchants, ranchers and miners in the region.

Initially, alias Marlon was charged with criminal conspiracy, and he was sent to prison by a judge.

In this case, progress was made in the clarification of 10 murders that occurred in Montes de María region.

• 13 alleged members of the Zuley Guerra substructure were arrested in Córdoba. According to investigations they allegedly had a level of participation in at least 10 homicides.
• 6 arrested people from the Juan de Dios Úsuga David structure from the so-called Central Turbo substructure. In these proceedings, Jhonny Alexander Mesa Sánchez, alias Jhonny, drug trafficking ringleader, is considered as the person responsible for the purchase, transport, and storage of narcotics to coordinate the shipment from Turbo to Central American countries.

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.