HomeNewsBriefColombia Captures Top Gasoline Smuggler
BRIEF

Colombia Captures Top Gasoline Smuggler

COLOMBIA / 20 FEB 2015 BY LOREN RIESENFELD EN

Police in Colombia have captured the so-called "fuel czar," the leader of a contraband smuggling operation along the border with Venezuela, in what could signal an effort to reduce the flow of illicit goods.

On February 19, Colombian police confirmed the capture of Pedro Enrique Ospino Cobo, alias "Balacho," in Venezuela, reported El Colombiano. Ospino was allegedly the successor to captured contraband boss Marcos de Jesus Figueroa Garcia, alias "Marquitos," and controlled the finances of Marquitos' operation, along with drug routes, gasoline smuggling, and extortion operations, reported Semana

Ospino has also been identified as the alleged perpetrator of the murders of a mayor and city councilman in northeastern Colombia in 2012. 

Marquitos was arrested in Brazil last October, after building a lucrative gasoline smuggling and drug trafficking operation allegedly facilitated by ties to local politicians including the former governor of Colombia's La Guajira province, Francisco "Kiko" Gomez. While not much is known about Ospino, Colombian police say he was one of three leaders who took over the criminal network after Marquitos was captured, according to El Heraldo.

InSight Crime Analysis

Ospino's capture suggests that Colombian authorities are turning their attention to contraband smuggling, a historically overlooked problem. In October, the head of Colombia’s fiscal police told Reuters that strides made against drug trafficking and progress in peace talks with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) had allowed security forces to focus on combatting the contraband trade, a problem they previously did not have the resources to tackle.

The focus on contraband appears to be a new strategy. When InSight Crime visited the Venezuelan border region in September, officials said there was so much contraband moving across the border authorities had no hopes of stemming the flow. "We can't stop this. All we can do is try to make sure it is not out of control," one customs police officer told InSight Crime. Similarly, Reuters reported that officials are only able to inspect around two percent of goods crossing the border, enabling contraband to make up over 10 percent of Colombia’s imports in 2013. By mid-September last year, customs police in the border city of Cucuta had seized over $5.1 million worth of contraband.

SEE ALSO: Colombia News and Profiles

Gasoline smuggling, the forte of Marquitos' former empire, is especially profitable. According to the Los Angeles Times, 16 percent of all gasoline produced in Venezuelan refineries ends up as contraband in Colombia, Brazil, and the Caribbean, and gasoline bought for 4 cents a gallon at Venezuelan service stations can be sold for huge markups in Colombia.

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 / 18 JAN 2022

Authorities in Colombia have netted the country's "king" of drug submarines – a man whose services, prosecutors allege, have been employed…

ECUADOR / 13 OCT 2022

US dollars have been flooding into Venezuela and Ecuador, with authorities unaware of how widespread their use has become…

GENDER AND CRIME / 6 FEB 2023

Femicides in Venezuela have become a common tactic for organized crime groups, targeting partners and relatives of rivals.

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

All Eyes on Ecuador

2 JUN 2023

Our coverage of organized crime in Ecuador continues to be a valuable resource for international and local news outlets. Internationally, Reuters cited our 2022 Homicide Round-Up,…

WORK WITH US

Open Position: Social Media and Engagement Strategist

27 MAY 2023

InSight Crime is looking for a Social Media and Engagement Strategist who will be focused on maintaining and improving InSight Crime’s reputation and interaction with its audiences through publishing activities…

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela Coverage Receives Great Reception

27 MAY 2023

Several of InSight Crime’s most recent articles about Venezuela have been well received by regional media. Our article on Venezuela’s colectivos expanding beyond their political role to control access to…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Chemical Precursor Report Continues

19 MAY 2023

For the second week in a row, our investigation into the flow of precursor chemicals for the manufacture of synthetic drugs in Mexico has been cited by multiple regional media…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime’s Chemical Precursor Report Widely Cited

THE ORGANIZATION / 12 MAY 2023

We are proud to see that our recently published investigation into the supply chain of chemical precursors feeding Mexico’s synthetic drug production has been warmly received.