HomeNewsBriefColombia Authorities 'Narrow In' on Gaitanistas Leader With Latest Arrest
BRIEF

Colombia Authorities 'Narrow In' on Gaitanistas Leader With Latest Arrest

COLOMBIA / 22 MAY 2018 BY PARKER ASMANN EN

Authorities in Colombia have captured one of the last remaining leaders of the Gaitanistas, a devastating blow to the country’s most powerful drug trafficking organization that could solidify the group’s fall.

In a joint military operation on May 21, authorities captured Daniel Martínez Caraballo, alias “Samuel,” in San Jacinto municipality in the northern department of Bolivar, according to a press release from the Attorney General’s Office.

According to a military press release, Samuel is the alleged successor of Manuel Arístides Meza Páez, alias “El Indio,” the Gaitanistas' former finance chief and head of operations in various strategic regions. Colombian security forces killed El Indio in March 2018 as part of a joint security initiative known as “Operation Agamemnon II” aimed at taking down the criminal group.

SEE ALSO: Colombia News and Profiles

Samuel allegedly headed the drug trafficking, extortion and illegal mining operations of the “Erlín Pino Duarte” armed wing of the Gaitanistas, also known as the Gulf Clan, Urabeños, and Gaitanist Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (Autodefensas Gaitanistas de Colombia – AGC). According to the military press release, Samuel also orchestrated attacks against Colombian security forces and the National Liberation Army (Ejército de Liberación Nacional - ELN), one of the country’s last remaining guerrilla groups.

The arrest of Samuel is a serious blow to the AGC's finances. According to the military press release, Samuel’s arrest affects up to 30 percent of the group’s illegal earnings.

InSight Crime Analysis

The capture of Samuel is yet another setback to the already severely weakened AGC, and could be a sign that authorities are narrowing in on the group’s leader and Colombia’s most wanted criminal.

The AGC's leadership has been decimated by Colombian security forces in recent months. In late 2017, security forces killed Roberto Vargas Gutiérrez, alias “Gavilán,” the group’s second-in-command. This was followed shortly after by the arrest of Luis Orlando Padierna, alias "Inglaterra," another high-ranking boss, as well as the death of El Indio in early 2018. This has, in part, prompted AGC's leader Dairo Antonio Úsuga, alias “Otoniel,” to offer to surrender himself and his organization.

The official strategy now seems to be focusing not only on captures but on cutting Otoniel's financial sources.

SEE ALSO: Urabeños News and Profile

While Otoniel -- Colombia’s most-wanted criminal -- has yet to surrender, authorities say that they are “narrowing in” on him after the recent arrest of Samuel. As other competing criminal groups try to stake their claim on territory the Urabeños are no longer able to control, previous talks of a possible surrender agreement between the group and the Colombian government could resurface as Otoniel runs out of options.

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 / 20 APR 2022

Repeated seizures along the United Kingdom’s southern coast have shown how the area is gaining relevance as a secondary route…

COLOMBIA / 28 JUL 2023

Three cases in recent weeks highlight how Colombian groups continue to dominate loansharking schemes across Central and South America…

COLOMBIA / 21 DEC 2021

The Segunda Marquetalia has seen its leadership decimated under bizarre circumstances, in the only place where the powerful Colombian dissident…

About InSight Crime

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…

THE ORGANIZATION

Human Rights Watch Draws on InSight Crime's Haiti Coverage

18 AUG 2023

Non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch relied on InSight Crime's coverage this week, citing six articles and one of our criminal profiles in its latest report on the humanitarian…