Colombia Continues to Decisively Disrupt Crime and Terrorism

By Dialogo
May 03, 2013

On May 1, during a visit to the United States, Colombian Ministry of Defense Juan Carlos Pinzón praised the blows that the Colombian Public Forces have inflicted this week on terrorist organizations, organized crime and drug trafficking, thus contributing to strengthening the security of the country.



“This week ‘el Negro Sarley’ was killed. He was the military chief of the criminal gang ‘Los Urabeños’, which moves a big part of the cocaine out of the Urabá Gulf towards Panamá, the Caribbean, and Central American countries, with the United States as the final destination,” Pinzón said.



Minister Pinzón also mentioned the capture in Bogotá of Rubén Giraldo Giraldo, successor of the paramilitary gangs of Hernán Giraldo, which smuggled cocaine shipments from the area of Sierra Nevada, in Santa Marta, to illegal markets worldwide.



“Similarly, 35 terrorists from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and from the National Liberation Army (ELN) were killed in the last few days. Nine of them fell in combats in Urabá and Caquetá, where troops of the so-called Special Forces Front 30 were confronted. Also, 17 individuals that were going to attempt a bank robbery were captured,” Pinzón explained.



According to the Minister of Defense, this last incident was the result of the pressure exerted by the Public Forces, limiting drug trafficking sources for the terrorists. “This shows how these organizations end up more like criminal gangs than guerrilla movements,” Pinzón said.