The Shottas are one of the leading criminal groups in Colombia’s port city of Buenaventura. The group gained notoriety due to its fierce and violent rivalry with the city’s other principal criminal group, the Spartans (Espartanos).
In 2022, both groups agreed to participate in President Gustavo Petro’s “Total Peace” plan, which seeks to establish an “urban peace laboratory” in Buenaventura as part of the greater aim to end the country’s decades-long conflict.
History
The Shottas trace their origins back to the late 1990s. The Calima Bloc (Bloque Calima), a paramilitary group belonging to the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia – AUC) arrived in Buenaventura hoping to expel the 30th Front of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia’s (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia – FARC), which had maintained a presence in the rural areas of the municipality since the late 1990s.
The paramilitaries maintained a predominantly urban presence and began recruiting young people from vulnerable neighborhoods, ramping up violence and extortion in the city.
After the AUC demobilized in 2006, some members of the Calima Bloc continued their criminal activities. Among these were the Bustamante family clan, which created the “Empresa,” a gang which would dominate the city’s criminal landscape for the next decade. The Bustamantes took control of drug trafficking routes through the city, grew extortion networks to finance the Empresa, and carried out kidnappings and disappearances.
The Bustamantes eventually abandoned the Empresa, creating a new group known as the “Local,” which was on the authorities’ radar by 2016. After several waves of arrests, Diego Bustamante, alias “Diego Optra,” took control of the Local in April 2019. However, his leadership proved to be controversial within the organization.
By December 2020, an internal rift led to the formation of the two gangs which vie for control of Buenaventura today: the Shottas and their rival, the Spartans. As of September 2023, the Shottas had between 600 and 1,000 members, according to the gang’s spokesman.
Drug trafficking is the Shottas’ main activity and source of income. The Shottas and Spartans seek control over neighborhoods with coastal areas called estuaries, where rivers and backwaters meet the ocean, some of which house informal shipyards. Drug traffickers can easily launch go-fast boats from these areas without detection, eventually clandestinely loading drug shipments onto container ships at sea. The gangs guard their territory, send, and receive drug shipments, collect extortion fees, and ensure everything reaches its destination.
Although the central pillar of their business is drug trafficking, the Shottas’ criminal activities also include extorting local businesses and kidnappings. Almost all businesses in Buenaventura pay an extortion fee to either the Shottas or the Spartans.
Competition between the Spartans and their rival, the Shottas, has led both gangs to commit murders and other violent crimes. The gang violence and regular shootings have also led to an informal curfew, and civilians living in communities with a heavy gang presence rarely leave their homes past 6:00 to avoid attacks. Some schools have even been reported to change their schedule so students can get home before the curfew starts.
Locals rarely speak out for fear of reprisal by the Shottas, who actively track and punish those perceived to be working with authorities or rivals. The gang has made a common practice of dismembering dissidents in houses known as “casas de pique,” a practice which has existed for decades.
Leadership
The leader of the Shottas is Diego Bustamante, alias “Diego Optra.” He became the leader after his uncle, Lugo Bustamente, was captured on April 27, 2019. Diego Optra first assumed the leadership of the Local, but internal divisions broke out as certain factions did not want him to lead the group, which eventually led to the splintering of the Local.
After the fragmentation, Diego Optra led the Shottas before being captured in Rionegro, Antioquia, on October 9, 2019. He was released from custody in 2022 due to judicial irregularities in his trial, according to media reports.
Geography
The Shottas operate in the urban area of Buenaventura in the Valle del Cauca department, which houses Colombia’s largest Pacific commercial port. They control several of the city’s communes located on the mainland part of the city, with the 12th commune acting as their stronghold.
Allies and Enemies
The Shottas’ principal enemies are the Spartans, despite sharing a criminal ancestry. After breaking away from the Local in 2020, the Shottas fought the Spartans for control of Buenaventura and continue to vie for control of extortion revenues, and cocaine smuggling routes. Although the Spartans are stronger in numbers, the Shottas possess the advantage in firepower. The territorial war between the rival drug gangs has led to the emergence of “invisible borders,” preventing civilians from moving freely between and within neighborhoods controlled by one gang or another.
Another enemy of the Shottas are the Chiquillos, an organized criminal group led by Robert Daniel Quintana, alias “Rober.” The Chiquillos are remnants of the Empresa. Tensions escalated in 2021 as Rober refused to align with either the Shottas or the Spartans. The Chiquillos have since aligned themselves with the Spartans, positioning themselves as rivals to the Shottas.
On the other hand, the Shottas have a longstanding relationship with the Gaitanist Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (Autodefensas Gaitanistas de Colombia – AGC) due to their paramilitary roots, underpinned mainly by drug trafficking financing. In 2021, when the government increased police security in Buenaventura to counter escalating drug trafficking levels, the AGC threatened to enter the municipality to defend the interests of the criminal groups. The Shottas later formed a business partnership with an ex-FARC mafia faction known as the Jaime Martinez Front, allowing them entry into Buenaventura for drug trafficking purposes. The Shottas also allegedly formed an alliance with the ex-FARC mafia’s Second Marquetalia (Segunda Marquetalia), which is trying to increase its presence in the area, according to a source in the Buenaventura Prosecutor’s Office who spoke to InSight Crime on the condition of anonymity.
Prospects
The Shottas officially announced their intention to participate in Petro’s Total Peace plan on October 2, 2022. This agreement was the first such accord between the Colombian government and an urban gang without a political ideology. However, the legal framework for these negotiations still needs to be established, as the group does not fall under the same legal jurisdiction as other politically motivated Colombian armed groups such as the ex-FARC mafia.
The Shottas have held several dialogues with the Spartans mediated by the Catholic Church and the Colombian government, as well as on-and-off ceasefires. The latest ceasefire began on December 7, 2022, but has proved volatile.
In August 2023, the two gangs signed a 30-day truce, during which violence and homicide levels dramatically decreased. The truce was then extended for a further 90 days in November 2023, providing relative relief for residents of Buenaventura.
A representative for the Shottas told InSight Crime that the criminal group hopes for peace, but will only demobilize if every armed group in Colombia also sets down their weapons.