The structure would control 80% of contraband in the country.
Four people were arrested in Colombia, including two police officers, accused of being part of a trafficking network, authorities announced Friday.
“We have successfully carried out the largest anti-smuggling operation in the history of Colombia,” declared President Gustavo Petro on his X account (formerly Twitter).
The other characteristic of the drug trade is the contraband.
Cocaine is seen in Colombian pesos through the contraband.
The contraband entered into the official sale.
Hicimos la.operación más grand contra el contrabando en la historia de Colombia https://t.co/xQChTu90aQ
— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) March 15, 2024
The arrests were carried out in Bogota (center), Bucaramanga (north) and Cali (southwest) in cooperation “with international agencies such as the DEA (American drug trafficking agency) and international police such as Europol” , declared the Director General of Police, William Salamanca, during a press conference.
“Smuggling Tsar”
The number two in this criminal network is Ricardo Orozco Baeza, alias “El bendecido” (the blessed one), described by the authorities as the “smuggling tsar” in Buenaventura, the main Colombian port on the Pacific.
This network is led by Diego Marín Buitrago, alias “Pitufo” (smurf), who is still on the run and has been described as “the biggest smuggler in the country” by Attorney General Martha Mancera.
According to President Petro, this network “was responsible for 80% of the smuggling” to Colombia.
The organization operated in the ports of Buenaventura (west), Cartagena and Santa Marta (north), in complicity with corrupt local officials.
Among those arrested are two police officers: Colonel Alexander Galeano and Major Mario Sarmiento.
The “blessed” recruited police officers “to help bring in the goods without paying taxes to the Colombian state,” explained prosecutor Mancera, all for a loss that the authorities estimate at some $20 million per year.
Colonel Galeano “co-opted other officials to (…) transmit the shipments”, while a fourth suspect, José Alzate Moncay, was responsible in particular for “logistics”, added the prosecutor.