Cartel Paid Thousands Of Dollars To Operatives To Kill Police Officers, Colombian Authorities Say

Colombian authorities said they captured hundreds of operatives of the country's largest cartel, which paid thousands of dollars to members to kill some police officers.

Concretely, authorities said they captured over 200 members of the Gulf Clan, accused of murdering at least two dozen security force members over the past months.

Army chief Francisco Cubides said in a press conference that 217 members have been arrested since April 15 and that 15 suspected operatives were killed during raids. Forces also seized tons of drugs, firearms and ammunition in the operations.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro has accused the group, recently designated as a terrorist organization by the Trump administration, of carrying out a strategy to "systematically murder" law enforcement officials through its "pistol plan." His administration suspended peace talks with the group in early 2023.

Cubides said recent attacks that killed 16 police officers and five soldiers were part of a "desperate response" from the cartel to "overwhelming" advances from armed forces. Interior Minister Armando Benedetti added in a cabinet meeting that the cartel paid thousands of dollars "for some dead police officers."

Colombian forces have recently escalated their operations against the country's top criminal organization, including the use of air strikes as of December.

More recently, in March, a secret operation conducted by Colombian armed forces led to the death of Santander Franco Jiménez, a key ringleader within the criminal group who was behind an alleged assassination attempt against President Petro on July 2024. Similarly, a few days later and in another air strike ordered by Petro, authorities confirmed the deaths of eight alleged cartel members as well as the seizure of more than a dozen firearms used by the organization.

An operation conducted on April 5 also shook the cartel's organizational structure as José Miguel Demoya Hernández, alias "Chirimoya" was killed during a clash with armed forces in the province of Córdoba.

"Chirimoya" was believed to be one of the closest allies of Jobanis de Jesús Ávila. "Chiquito Malo" assumed leadership of the organization following the arrest of Dairo Antonio Úsuga, alias "Otoniel," in October 2021. The U.S. had issued a request for his arrest with extradition purposes.