They are two rudimentary refineries that would be used for the processing of stolen petroleum. They had rudimentary distillers inside, necessary to convert the petroleum into gasoline or DIESEL.
The criminal and financial scaffolding of the Organized Armed Group, GAO, Eln, is weakened, and the strategic assets of the Nation, the lives and activities of the inhabitants and the environment, and industry, are protected.
Two decisive blows were dealt by the Military Forces to the finances of the GAO Eln with the neutralization of two illegal fuel refineries in El Tarra; an illicit valve was found in Teorama, in El Catatumbo region.
The first military operation, aimed at neutralizing the theft of fuel, was carried out in the municipality of San Isidro, in El Tarra region, where different elements used for the illicit activity were found by troops; these facilities would produce fuel with criminal profits of more than $30 million per month.
In that sense, the Minister of National Defense, Diego Molano Aponte, reported that 900 units of the National Army and the National Police participated in the gigantic operation. “We dealt a strategic blow to the finances of the GAO Eln, which for 12 years stole petroleum with this illegal valve in El Tarra.”
On the other hand, in compliance with the Black Gold Pla’, the operation Némesis Catatumbo was conducted, in which troops of the Second Division of the National Army, and in coordinated work with the National Police, the Colombian Air Force and the Attorney General's Office, found an illicit valve installed in the Caño Limón - Coveñas petroleum pipeline.
The military control operation, carried out in the recent hours, was carried out jointly with regional and departmental institutions of Norte de Santander and private institutions, which had to carry out an excavation in the municipality Asrío de Teorama, northwest of that department.
Subsequently, the Military forces secured the area to ensure the entry of the specialized technical personnel of Cenit, a subsidiary company of the Ecopetrol group, responsible for transporting the fuel, to carry out the evaluation and repair the valve.
In the department of Norte de Santander, seven pipeline blasts have been carried out this year, and according to information provided by Cenit, 41 illicit valves have been found and 690 barrels of petroleum have been stolen in the Catatumbo region; 70 percent of this fuel is used for the production of cocaine.
With these decisive blows, troops stopped the serious environmental damage caused by the extraction of petroleum, which is carried out indiscriminately and without any type of control, which generates serious damage to the flora, fauna and fuel sources of the region.
In the area where the events took place, the Military Forces maintain operations with the objective of weakening in a decisive way the financial and criminal scaffolding of the Organized Armed Group Eln.
Source: Defence Sector Communications Office - Ministry of National Defence
