HomeNewsBriefColombia Dismantles Gaitanistas Drug Plane Network
BRIEF

Colombia Dismantles Gaitanistas Drug Plane Network

COLOMBIA / 24 APR 2015 BY DAVID GAGNE EN

Authorities in Colombia have captured the leaders of a network that allegedly trafficked cocaine via plane for criminal organization the Gaitanistas, a reminder of the group's ability to move large quantities of drugs despite a sustained government offensive against them.

On April 18, Colombian police arrested a pilot known as "Mita," who allegedly flew cocaine-laden planes on behalf of the Gaitanistas, also known as the Gulf Clan, Urabeños, and Gaitanist Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (Autodefensas Gaitanistas de Colombia – AGC), to Panama and Honduras, reported El Espectador. Police also captured Luis Fernando Galeano alias "Perico," and Hector Cañaveral Mendoza, alias “Caña," who were reportedly in charge of obtaining the planes and fabricating licenses.

Another captured accomplice, Carlos Francisco Alvarez Rodriguez, alias "Corbata," allegedly arranged the hand-off of cocaine shipments to foreign drug trafficking groups in Central America, reported El Pais. The network had reportedly worked for the AGC in this capacity for over six years.

According to Colombia's National Police, the United States has extradition requests for the detainees on charges of drug trafficking.

Three days after the arrests, on April 21, Colombian authorities captured 72 alleged members of the AGC in a massive operation carried out in several parts of the country.

InSight Crime Analysis

The dismantling of an AGC network that sent aerial drug shipments from Colombia to Central America indicates that this criminal group still has the resources to conduct large-scale transnational drug trafficking operations. The AGC have lost a number of high-level operatives in recent years, but the group's leader, Dario Antonio Usuga, alias "Otoniel," has managed to avoid capture, making him one of Colombia's last major drug capos not dead or behind bars.

SEE ALSO: Urabeños News and Profiles

The security force offensive launched in February against Otoniel and the AGC in Colombia's northwest Uraba region reflects the importance Colombian authorities have placed on dismantling this criminal organization. According to police figures, with nearly 3,000 operatives the AGC have almost ten times more members than the next largest neo-paramilitary organization, or BACRIM (from the Spanish for "bandas criminales"), in Colombia. The weakened state of Colombia's other criminal groups means the AGC are arguably the last BACRIM that pose a serious challenge to the country's security.

The captures also suggest Colombian authorities may be underestimating the scale of aerial drug trafficking operations in the country. According to Colombia's Air Force, the number of drug flights detected by authorities has dropped by 99 percent over the past decade, from 700 in 2004 to just six between January and November 2014.

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

COLOMBIA / 26 OCT 2021

Two top police commanders in Colombia and Mexico have recently admitted to filtering sensitive information to drug traffickers while working…

COLOMBIA / 21 OCT 2022

The re-opening of the Colombia-Venezuela border was a momentous occasion. But did it come too early?…

AUC / 26 OCT 2021

Accused Colombian trafficker Dairo Antonio Úsuga, alias “Otoniel,” has been on the radar of US prosecutors for more than a…

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…