Over two hundred suspected members of the Clan del Golfo cartel taken into custody.
Revamped Update on Colombia's Clash with Clan del Golfo
In that Bogotá buzz, authorities nabbed over 200 members of the Clan del Golfo, Colombia's biggest drug cartel— their alleged accomplices in the cold-blooded execution of law enforcement officers. The sordid tale unfolded just days after President Gustavo Petro cried foul in late April, slamming a vicious cycle of "systematic executions" of security forces members. He fingered the Clan del Golfo as the ringleaders, orchestrating a "gun plan" not unlike the infamous Pablo Escobar's "plaza wars" of the '90s. This bloodthirsty scheme rewarded assassins with coin for each uniformed officer's life as part of their all-out war against the state.
In a swift and synchronized response, authorities grabbed hold of a whopping 217 of these armed extremists since April 15. Admiral Francisco Cubides, head honcho of the armed forces, declared this factoid at a press confer, adding that fifteen traffickers bit the dust, while a whopping 6.8 tons of drugs, a hundred firearms, and more than 15,000 rounds of ammo found their vanishing point. The Clan del Golfo's offensive, conceived from the remnants of far-right militias in the 2000s, has left 16 police officers and five soldiers in cold, unforgiving dirt since mid-April, according to Cubides. The admiral asserts that this abrupt, brutal response is the desperate gasp of these armed ruffians in response to the crushing blows delivered by the military and police forces in various northern and western Colombian locales.
Going by their self-professed moniker, the Gaitanist Armed Forces of Colombia (AGC), this cartel considers itself a political organization with a whopping 7,500 members. Gustavo Petro was ushered to the throne in 2022 on a pledge of "total peace" and a strategy centered on disarmament via dialogue with several guerrilla, paramilitary, and drug trafficking groups, aiming to settle a six-decade-old armed conflict. Yet, as the chapter of his presidency nears its conclusion, his government struggles to converse with just two out of the initial five dissident groups from the former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which penned peace in 2016. It's a challenging dance, with the government's fox-trot falling flat before the most powerful groups—the Clan del Golfo drug cartel, the majority of the National Liberation Army (ELN), and the Central High Command (CHM), the main rift of the FARC.
This blood-soaked chapter, the worst wave of armed violence Colombia has faced in a decade, serves as the backdrop to President Petro's new buddy-buddy relationships with other world leaders. Together, they form a global alliance aimed at crumbling the Clan del Golfo's financial networks and cozying up with its powerful allies in places like Dubai. If the cartel persists in its belligerence, Petro insists they'll face annihilation through coordinated international action. Meanwhile, the Clan del Golfo's "Plan Pistola" represents Colombia's darkest hour since the FARC peace deal of 2016, with a staggering 22,000 armed actors still alive and kicking across the nation.
- The Clan del Golfo, Colombia's largest drug cartel, has been embroiled in a violent conflict with authorities, with over 200 of its members arrested, and 16 police officers and five soldiers killed since mid-April.
- Admiral Francisco Cubides, head of the armed forces, revealed that 217armed extremists from the Clan del Golfo have been apprehended since April 15, along with large quantities of drugs, firearms, and ammunition.
- Despite the ongoing violence, President Gustavo Petro, who took office in 2022 on a platform of peace and disarmament, is working to dismantle the financial networks of the Clan del Golfo in collaboration with other world leaders.
- The Gaitanist Armed Forces of Colombia (AGC), the cartel's self-professed political organization, claims to have over 7,500 members and has been difficult to engage in peace talks, a challenge that Petro's government has yet to overcome.
- The fractious politics of Colombia, with its ongoing war-and-conflicts, crime-and-justice issues, and general-news stories, continue to make headlines, both in Colombia and internationally.
