HomeNewsBriefColombia Investigates Guns Rental Services for Assassins
BRIEF

Colombia Investigates Guns Rental Services for Assassins

ARMS TRAFFICKING / 24 FEB 2016 BY ELISE DITTA EN

Police investigations into two gun rental outlets in a Colombian border city highlight how rented firearms benefit criminal groups in the nation.

In February 2016, police seized weapons and munitions from two alleged gun rental outlets in Cúcuta, Colombia, a city known as a stronghold for criminal groups and contraband trafficking.

According to Cúcuta Metropolitan Police (Policía Metropolitana de Cúcuta) Chief Jaime Barrera, a revolver could be rented for 100,000 Colombian pesos (about $30) at the outlets, reports La Opinion.

In the first rental locale, police found three revolvers, various munitions, and drug packaging supplies. According to the police, the location was used by a criminal group that stole cars and robbed people in Cúcuta.

The seized weapons will undergo a ballistic analysis to determine if they were used in recent homicides in the city.

At the second rental operation, police seized nine revolvers, three pistols, and a rifle, along with munitions.

This rental locale was used by the criminal bands (BACRIM) Clan Úsuga or the Urabeños and the Rastrojos, in addition to the guerrilla groups the National Liberation Army (Ejercito de Liberacion Nacional - ELN) and the Popular Liberation Army (Ejercito Popular de Liberacion – EPL), reported La Opinion.

According to authorities, this rental center was also used as a stop-off point for weapons that the Rastrojos would later smuggle to another city in Norte de Santander department.

InSight Crime Analysis

The use of gun rentals by criminal groups is relatively common in Colombia, where there are a reported 2.5 million illegal firearms in circulation.

In 2015, gun rentals in Baranquilla allegedly cost upwards of 100,000 Colombian pesos ($30) a day. In Bogota in 2015, gun rentals were reportedly more expensive, at 300,000-500,000 Colombian pesos ($90 - $150) daily.

     SEE ALSO: Colombia News and Profiles

Rental guns are used for home and business robberies, and for riskier crimes like bank robberies and murders for hire. According to Semana, this is a particularly hard phenomenon for police to track because rental operations generally have relatively small quantities of weapons that are easy to hide. Additionally, linking the weapons to a crime is challenging because the same weapon could be used by multiple people over a short span of time. 

The use of rented firearms to commit crimes has also been reported in other countries in the region, including Mexico, but has not been so commonly reported in the Northern Triangle (Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala), where homicide rates are some of the highest in the world. 

It remains to be seen if Colombia's new efforts to ban the carrying of firearms in 2016 will reduce the profitability and use of rental weapons.

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 / 28 FEB 2023

The movie Cocaine Bear has a surprising connection to Pablo Escobar and the Medellin Cartel, especially how they trafficked drugs…

COLOMBIA / 23 JUL 2021

Once belonging to the demobilized FARC, certain criminal groups seek to reconquer surrendered assets, driving a wave of violence in…

COLOMBIA / 23 MAY 2022

A reconfiguration of the groups that control micro-trafficking in Colombia’s capital city is responsible for the series of macabre homicides…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela Coverage Continues to be Highlighted

3 MAR 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-director Jeremy McDermott was the featured guest on the Americas Quarterly podcast, where he provided an expert overview of the changing dynamics…

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela's Organized Crime Top 10 Attracts Attention

24 FEB 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published its ranking of Venezuela’s ten organized crime groups to accompany the launch of the Venezuela Organized Crime Observatory. Read…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime on El País Podcast

10 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-founder, Jeremy McDermott, was among experts featured in an El País podcast on the progress of Colombia’s nascent peace process.

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Interviewed by Associated Press

3 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime’s Co-director Jeremy McDermott was interviewed by the Associated Press on developments in Haiti as the country continues its prolonged collapse. McDermott’s words were republished around the world,…

THE ORGANIZATION

Escaping Barrio 18

27 JAN 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published an investigation charting the story of Desafío, a 28-year-old Barrio 18 gang member who is desperate to escape gang life. But there’s one problem: he’s…