The Colombian government will mobilize hundreds of members of the Armed Forces in the Department of Antioquia to combat Clan Úsuga, one of the nation’s largest and most active narcotrafficking groups, Defense Minister Juan Carlos Pinzón and General Rodolfo Palomino, director of the National Police, said recently.
The Colombian government will mobilize hundreds of members of the Armed Forces in the Department of Antioquia to combat Clan Úsuga, one of the nation’s largest and most active narcotrafficking groups, Defense Minister Juan Carlos Pinzón and General Rodolfo Palomino, director of the National Police, said recently.
The initiative, known as Operation ‘ Toma Masiva del Urabá
‘, will be carried out by the Neptuno Task Force, which combines 12 existing task forces and includes members of the Army, Air Force, Navy, and National Police. Rear Admiral Ricardo Hurtado Chacón will oversee the task force, while Major General Ricardo Alberto Restrepo Londoño, the head of the Colombian National Police’s Counter-Narcotics Division, will lead the operation.
The task force, which will also combat extortion, smuggling, and illegal mining, will be based in the municipalities where Clan Úsuga maintains a major presence: Turbo, Chigorodó, and Urabá in Antioquia.
“From [Antioquia], Clan Úsuga brokers drug deals and transports drugs into Central America through Panama,” Minister Pinzón said. “It’s no secret that there are large quantities of narcotics here.”
As part of the operation, security forces have already captured 15 alleged members of Clan Úsuga and from the country’s two largest guerrilla groups – the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the National Liberation Army (ELN). Their main objective, however, is to capture Clan Úsuga’s leader, who is known by the alias ‘Otoniel’.
The Colombian government has issued a reward of $1 billion Colombian pesos (about $402,090) for his apprehension, Palomino said, adding that security forces are “getting closer to capturing him.”
Colombian security forces have been highly successful in their fight against Clan Úsuga in recent months.
On January 18 in the municipality of Darién in Valle del Cauca Department, the Army captured a suspect who allegedly coordinated drug deals between Clan Úsuga and the Sinaloa Cartel and Los Zetas, two Mexican transnational criminal organizations. His extradition has been requested by the United States, where he is wanted on narcotrafficking charges.
And on August 19, 2014, Troops with the Army’s Presidential Guard Battalion and the Judicial Police arrested an alleged high-ranking leader of Clan Úsuga in Bosa, south of Bogotá. The apprehension followed an intelligence operation that extended over several months and was conducted by the Army with the cooperation of the Technical Investigation Corps (CTI) of the Attorney General’s Office. Allegedly, the suspect was in charge of a criminal network comprised of at least 14 Clan Úsuga operatives suspected of collecting ransom and extortion payments and committing assassinations in eastern Colombia.
The Colombian government will mobilize hundreds of members of the Armed Forces in the Department of Antioquia to combat Clan Úsuga, one of the nation’s largest and most active narcotrafficking groups, Defense Minister Juan Carlos Pinzón and General Rodolfo Palomino, director of the National Police, said recently.
The initiative, known as Operation ‘ Toma Masiva del Urabá
‘, will be carried out by the Neptuno Task Force, which combines 12 existing task forces and includes members of the Army, Air Force, Navy, and National Police. Rear Admiral Ricardo Hurtado Chacón will oversee the task force, while Major General Ricardo Alberto Restrepo Londoño, the head of the Colombian National Police’s Counter-Narcotics Division, will lead the operation.
The task force, which will also combat extortion, smuggling, and illegal mining, will be based in the municipalities where Clan Úsuga maintains a major presence: Turbo, Chigorodó, and Urabá in Antioquia.
“From [Antioquia], Clan Úsuga brokers drug deals and transports drugs into Central America through Panama,” Minister Pinzón said. “It’s no secret that there are large quantities of narcotics here.”
As part of the operation, security forces have already captured 15 alleged members of Clan Úsuga and from the country’s two largest guerrilla groups – the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the National Liberation Army (ELN). Their main objective, however, is to capture Clan Úsuga’s leader, who is known by the alias ‘Otoniel’.
The Colombian government has issued a reward of $1 billion Colombian pesos (about $402,090) for his apprehension, Palomino said, adding that security forces are “getting closer to capturing him.”
Colombian security forces have been highly successful in their fight against Clan Úsuga in recent months.
On January 18 in the municipality of Darién in Valle del Cauca Department, the Army captured a suspect who allegedly coordinated drug deals between Clan Úsuga and the Sinaloa Cartel and Los Zetas, two Mexican transnational criminal organizations. His extradition has been requested by the United States, where he is wanted on narcotrafficking charges.
And on August 19, 2014, Troops with the Army’s Presidential Guard Battalion and the Judicial Police arrested an alleged high-ranking leader of Clan Úsuga in Bosa, south of Bogotá. The apprehension followed an intelligence operation that extended over several months and was conducted by the Army with the cooperation of the Technical Investigation Corps (CTI) of the Attorney General’s Office. Allegedly, the suspect was in charge of a criminal network comprised of at least 14 Clan Úsuga operatives suspected of collecting ransom and extortion payments and committing assassinations in eastern Colombia.
Yikes, bunch of cool guys these men I hope they hit those scruffy s.o.b.s hard. Long live my dear Colombian army brothers