HomeNewsBriefColombia's 'Invisible' Drug Traffickers May Include 'Narco-Ghost'
BRIEF

Colombia's 'Invisible' Drug Traffickers May Include 'Narco-Ghost'

AUC / 21 JUL 2015 BY JAMES BARGENT EN

A profile of a Colombian drug trafficker who, after a long criminal career, disappeared off the radar highlights how key figures in the underworld continue to successfully operate undetected.

According to an investigation by news site Pacifista, Guillermo Camacho Acevedo, alias "Memo Fantasma," was a major drug trafficker who staged his disappearence in order to protect the interests of paramilitary leaders -- and who may still be active today.

Pacifista reports that Camacho began his drug-running career as an envoy for a faction of Pablo Escobar's Medellin Cartel, handling wholesale distribution of cocaine shipments in New York. When Escobar accused Camacho's bosses of treachery and had them murdered in 1992, Camacho was left alone with his latest cocaine shipment. He sold the load on and used the profits to set himself up as an independent operator.

Camacho returned to Colombia around 1996, where he forged an alliance with the right-wing paramilitary coaliation, known as the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC). He worked with the AUC in driving guerrilla rebels out of key drug production zones, according to Pacifista's sources. Camacho eventually became a key figure in a powerful paramilitary faction, the Central Bolivar Bloc, and helped make them one of the paramilitary units most heavily involved in the drug trade. 

Pacifista records how Camacho then participated in the first demobilization talks between the AUC leadership and the Colombian government. However, by 2004, all traces of Camacho's participation began to disappear. 

According to Pacifista, Camacho abandoned the peace process in order to secretly protect the assets and drug trafficking networks of the AUC leaders, who had agreed to hand over all their ill-gotten gains and dismantle their organizations as part of the peace agreement.

Since then, Camacho is believed to have become the chief of finances for the Rastrojos, one of the principal criminal groups that emerged after the AUC demobilization. It is a role he continues to perform today, sources told Pacifista. 

InSight Crime Analysis

The strange tale of "Memo Fantasma" is illustrative of how the botched demobilization of the AUC gave rise to a new generation of narco-paramilitary groups -- and may have serious implications for the current dynamic in Colombia's underworld. 

The failure to break up the drug trafficking networks established by the AUC created the new generation of criminal groups that included the Rastrojos. From the start, these groups were controlled by former paramilitaries who did not demobilize or who rearmed.

SEE ALSO: The Victory of the Urabeños

The Rastrojos emerged as the most powerful of these new networks, largely by filling the vacuum left by the Central Bolivar Bloc. Although the Rastrojos has since suffered a dramatic demise after its known leaders surrendered or were arrested, local factions still operate. Their continued existence may be related to ongoing backing from financers and drug traffickers such as Camacho.

Camacho may not be the only "narco-ghost" operating from the shadows. Key sectors of Colombia's underworld are believed to be run by a network of so-called "invisibles:" long-time drug traffickers who have managed to avoid the attention of authorities. 

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 / 22 FEB 2022

Youth in Colombia continue to be trapped by a range of armed groups, which use everything from bribery to death…

COLOMBIA / 9 MAR 2023

Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro will play a vital role in the success of Colombia's peace talks with the ELN. Is…

COLOMBIA / 21 APR 2022

Everything from turtles, iguanas and parrots is trafficked through Cartagena, Colombia's illegal wildlife trade.

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…