With the activation of the Route of Legality, the number of people surrendered to justice doubled, increasing from 300 in 2019, to 665 for this year.
This year it will be possible to reach the figure of eradication of 105 thousand hectares of illicit plantations, achieving the goal of 350 thousand hectares for the four-year term of President Duque.
Carepa (Antioquia), December 22, 2021. In the framework of Accountability for the second half of 2021, the Minister of National Defense, Diego Molano Aponte, informed Colombians on the hard work carried out by the Military Forces in the fight against Organized Armed Groups and their main source of funding: drug trafficking.
In his speech, Molano highlighted that decisive blows were dealt such as the neutralization of alias Fabián, which manages to give tranquility in the Colombian Pacific Coast; the arrest alias Otoniel, top ringleader of the GAO Clan del Golfo, which provides more security in Antioquia, Córdoba, and the Caribbean Coast, and of course, the operation against alias Ferney, member of the Farc dissidents, in the south of the country.
“The country had, three years ago, when President Iván Duque began, seven consolidated armed groups, today there are four. It is an important effort where it has been possible to reduce the number of men in firearms and their support networks, and neutralize groups such as Los Caparros, with the arrest alias Flechas, which committed crimes in the Urabá region and the Bajo Cauca region in Antioquia, the Minister said.
This year, since January the first until November the 30, 39 ringleaders belonging to Organized Armed Groups and Organized Crime gangs were neutralized, so 7 ringleaders in the country, 30 in the regions and 2 drug trafficking coordinators.
In that sense, the head of the ministry of Defense insisted that the fight against the GAO and drug trafficking is a priority framed in the Defense and Security Policy of the National Government, because they are elements which generate resources to fuel violence and forced displacement and the murder of social leaders.
General Luis Fernando Navarro, general commander of the Military Forces, said that the operations have been focused on the areas of priority assistance as the limits of the departments of La Guajira and Cesar; Norte de Santander, specifically in the Catatumbo region and Arauca, Meta, Caquetá and Guaviare, Putumayo and the Pacífico region in Nariño, as well as in Cauca, Chocó the south of Cordoba and the Bajo Cauca region in Antioquia, and in the south of Bolivar.
“This year 6 466 arrests have been made and, compared to the previous year, they have increased 41 percent; 657 people have been brought to justice, 46 percent more than the previous year, and 221 members of the GAO have died in operations to recover the control of the disputed territories,” said General Navarro.
In addition, 196 minors have been recovered of these organizations, and their rights have been restored.
So 7 547 neutralizations, including surrenders, arrests, recovered minors and deaths in the course of military operations, represent an increase of 42 percent compared to the previous year.
Regarding drug trafficking, Minister Molano highlighted the creation of the Command Against Drug Trafficking and Transnational Threats, CONAT, whose record figures, such as the 105 thousand hectares eradicated this year, which will complete 350 thousand hectares for the four-year term of President Duque, even surpassing the goal contemplated in the Development Plan by more than 100 thousand hectares.
“This year, a record number of findings were reported by troops: 650 tons of cocaine hydrochloride, which takes away productivity and resources from Organized Armed Groups, in addition in continuous strategy against laboratories: 5,600 destroyed. More than 1,604 million doses have not been sent around the world,” Molano said.
In the same way, the director of the National Police, general Jorge Luis Vargas, in his speech, called the arrest alias Otoniel, as “the most important anti-trafficking [operation],” with the Operation Osiris, which resulted in the finding of 420 tons of drugs, and the confiscation of properties by US$4 billion that belonged to him and his family. In addition, many murders of social leaders were clarified and solved, since he is one of the major perpetrators [of murders] and displacement of families.
“Today in Urabá we can say: fulfilled Order, Mr. President!” General Vargas concluded.
Source: Defence Sector Communications Office – Ministry of National Defence
