HomeNewsAnalysisWill 'Diego Rastrojo' Be the Next to Fall?
ANALYSIS

Will 'Diego Rastrojo' Be the Next to Fall?

DIEGO RASTROJO / 19 JAN 2011 BY INSIGHT CRIME EN

Colombian media reported that authorities in Venezuela had detained Diego Perez Henao, alias "Diego Rastrojo," a top commander of one of the most powerful drug trafficking organizations in Colombia. The reports were false but beg the question: will Perez be the next to fall?

Venezuelan police arrested a man with similar physical characteristics to Perez Henao, but confirmed Wednesday that he is not the Colombian drug trafficker. Perez is the military head of the Rastrojos, the one purely criminal organization in Colombia with presence across most of the country.

The intel is nonetheless an encouraging sign of greater collaboration from Venezuelan authorities. The nieghboring country has been a safehaven for Colombian drug traffickers, including, according to international intelligence agencies, Daniel Barrera, alias "Loco Barrera." The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) also maintain presence in Venezuela, particularly in the border states Zulia and Apure. The former head of the Rastrojos, Wilber Varela, was based in Venezuela until he was killed by the group's current leaders in Merida on January 30, 2008.

Since the exit of President Alvaro Uribe, relations between Venezuela and Colombia have vastly improved. In November, Colombia promised to extradite drug trafficker Walid Makled to Venezuela instead of the United States, where he is also wanted on charges. This was a key step towards restoring trust, as Makled is believed to have links with the highest levels of President Hugo Chavez's government, and any testimony he gave in the U.S. could have proved greatly damaging.

There have also been indications of Venezuela assuming a more proactive stance towards the issue of guerrilla presence in its territory. Venezuelan Justice Minister Tareck El Aissami has previously said that any FARC leaders captured here will be quickly handed over to Colombia, and so far Venezuela is making good on its word. The country extradited three suspected rebels in November last year, while in January 2010 a senior commander of the National Liberation Army (ELN) was deported back to Colombia. Venezuela has also stepped up security measures along the 1,375 mile border with Colombia, deploying more troops there late last year.

The capture of a top Colombian drug trafficker like Perez Henao in Venezuela would be another sign of better inter-agency collaboration between the two nations. Such collaboration was practically unthinkable during the final weeks of President Uribe's administration, when the then Colombia president accused Chavez of harboring FARC and ELN guerrillas in material presented before the Organization of American States (OAS). But there may be limit to what Venezuela can do. The country must confront its own domestic security issues, with crime on the increase, especially kidnappings and homicides. The Venezuelan police and military may not have the resources needed to support Colombia in complex anti-drug or counter-guerrilla operations, even if there is the political will.

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

COCAINE / 2 MAY 2022

One of the first Balkan cocaine traffickers to ever establish a presence in South America and forge criminal alliances between…

COLOMBIA / 25 JUL 2022

The Urabeños, and some smaller Colombian gangs, have sent a letter to president-elect Gustavo Petro to seek peace.

COLOMBIA / 4 AUG 2022

A local gang targeted bus drivers in Barranquilla, Colombia, to gain attention ahead of the country's change in government.

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Contributes Expertise Across the Board 

22 SEP 2023

This week InSight Crime investigators Sara García and María Fernanda Ramírez led a discussion of the challenges posed by Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s “Total Peace” plan within urban contexts. The…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Cited in New Colombia Drug Policy Plan

15 SEP 2023

InSight Crime’s work on emerging coca cultivation in Honduras, Guatemala, and Venezuela was cited in the Colombian government’s…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Discusses Honduran Women's Prison Investigation

8 SEP 2023

Investigators Victoria Dittmar and María Fernanda Ramírez discussed InSight Crime’s recent investigation of a massacre in Honduras’ only women’s prison in a Twitter Spaces event on…

THE ORGANIZATION

Human Trafficking Investigation Published in Leading Mexican Newspaper

1 SEP 2023

Leading Mexican media outlet El Universal featured our most recent investigation, “The Geography of Human Trafficking on the US-Mexico Border,” on the front page of its August 30…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Coverage of Ecuador Leads International Debate

25 AUG 2023

This week, Jeremy McDermott, co-director of InSight Crime, was interviewed by La Sexta, a Spanish television channel, about the situation of extreme violence and insecurity in Ecuador…