HomeNewsBriefCrime Wave Hits City that Will Host Signing of Colombia Peace Deal
BRIEF

Crime Wave Hits City that Will Host Signing of Colombia Peace Deal

COLOMBIA / 23 SEP 2016 BY DAVID GAGNE EN

A crime wave has hit Colombia's port city of Cartagena just days before government officials and FARC rebels are scheduled to arrive there to sign a peace agreement, foreshadowing the type of security challenges the country will face once the deal is finalized. 

A series of public acts of violence has disturbed the normally calm tourist sectors of Cartagena, leading Mayor Manolo Duque to prohibit passengers from riding on the back of motorcycles in these areas, reported reported La Silla Vacía.

An attempt to assassinate the drug trafficker known as "Pichi" on September 14 ended in a shootout between criminals and police in the upscale neighborhood of Bocagrande. Pichi is a member of the Urabeños, Colombia's most powerful criminal organization, who is currently under house arrest in a luxurious residence replete with an ocean view, according to La Silla Vacía.

More recently, the former baseball player Napoleón Franco Jr. was shot and killed on September 18 in the neighborhood of Pie de la Popa when he refused to hand over his cellphone to a gang of thieves. A few hours later, another group of muggers robbed a Rolex watch from a well-known businessman in Bocagrande, and later that night five armed men attempted to break into the home of the manager of a health insurance company.

The previous day, a botched robbery resulted in a shootout outside a shopping mall in Pie de la Popa.

InSight Crime Analysis

The surge of street crime in Cartagena's tourist areas contrasts with the feelings of hope and peace associated with the city as it prepares to host the September 26 signing of a peace agreement between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia - FARC). The peace deal, which was announced in late August, officially puts an end to over 50 years of armed conflict with the country's largest rebel group. The Colombian people will vote to either approve or reject the agreement in a referendum slated for October 2.

SEE ALSO:  Colombia News and Profiles

However, as InSight Crime has previously noted, Colombia's security challenges will not simply disappear once the FARC demobilize. The Urabeños pose an enduring security threat in areas marked as valuable criminal real estate such as Cartagena, where the port system is used to smuggle large-scale drug shipments to Central America. According to La Silla Vacía, the Urabeños and other neo-paramilitary groups known as "bandas criminales," or BACRIM, have installed three or four leaders in poor areas of the city who hire youths to carry out or facilitate the groups' criminal activities, including murder, drug trafficking and extortion.

This criminal dynamic is not unique to Cartagena; urban micro-trafficking and its attendant violence is on the rise in many parts of 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

COLOMBIA / 30 MAR 2023

"Creepy" marijuana cultivated in Colombia is in demand in Latin America, and Venezuela provides its exit point.

COLOMBIA / 29 JUL 2021

Colombia’s announcement of a large-scale military deployment to Norte de Santander, one of its most complex criminal hotspots, has thrust…

COLOMBIA / 29 MAR 2022

A record cocaine seizure off the coast of Colombia’s San Andres is the latest in a string of million-dollar drug…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Chemical Precursor Report continues to be a reference in the region

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.

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime’s Paraguay Election Coverage Draws Attention 

5 MAY 2023

InSight Crime looked at the various anti-organized crime policies proposed by the candidates in Paraguay’s presidential election, which was won on April 30 by Santiago Peña. Our pre-election coverage was cited…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Cited in OAS, CARICOM Reports

28 APR 2023

This week, InSight Crime’s work was cited nine times in a new report by the Organization of American States (OAS) titled “The Impact of Organized Crime on Women,…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Staff Cited as Experts by International Media

21 APR 2023

This week, InSight Crime deputy editor, Juan Diego Posada, was interviewed by the Associated Press about connections between the ex-FARC mafia and Brazilian criminal groups, and…