HomeNewsBriefOld Generation Narcos Fuel Colombia's New Mafia Wars
BRIEF

Old Generation Narcos Fuel Colombia's New Mafia Wars

COLOMBIA / 9 DEC 2013 BY JAMES BARGENT EN

Violence in Colombia's Pacific region is being driven not only by new generation BACRIM groups but also by drug traffickers from the long gone Cali Cartel, say security forces, as Colombia's past continues to cast a shadow over the modern drug trade.

The most recent outbreak of mafia wars in Valle del Cauca -- Colombia's most violent department -- is linked to a former member of the Cali Cartel who returned to Colombia last year, security forces sources told El Tiempo.

Only identified as "Señor de la R," the trafficker was deported from the United States after serving an 18-year prison sentence. On his return, he set up his own criminal organization and launched a war to reclaim control over drug trafficking routes and other criminal operations.

This brought him into conflict with the remnants of the Rastrojos, once the most powerful of Colombia's BACRIM (from "bandas criminales" or criminal bands) but now reduced to local factions after the surrender and arrest of their national leadership. According to El Tiempo, the Valle faction of the Rastrojos is led by a trafficker going by the name "Giovanny," who has built alliances with other criminal groups and drug traffickers in the region to try and rebuild.

To further complicate things, the Rastrojos' bitter enemies, the Machos, struck a deal with the Urabeños, paying for mercenary reinforcements. In doing so they strengthened their power while allowing the Urabeños a foothold in the region.

InSight Crime Analysis

"Señor de la R" -- who according to El Tiempo is a family member and close ally of Helmer "Pacho" Herrera who led the Cali Cartel -- is just the latest old generation drug trafficker to return to Valle to stake his claim to the region's underworld, following in the footsteps of Victor Patiño Fomeque, alias "El Quimico." Patiño, who worked with the Cali Cartel, then their successors, the Norte Del Valle Cartel (NDVC), also returned after a stint in a US prison. He is believed to have been the driving force behind a coalition of sons and relatives of former NDVC traffickers who united with the Urabeños to take on their old enemies in the Rastrojos.

However, it is not just in Valle where traffickers from Colombia's cocaine heyday of the 80s continue to make their mark. On the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) most wanted list appear two Colombians with no legal history within the country. Although they have left little trace of their past, they are also believed to be linked to the old generation of cartels, with one an alleged Medellin Cartel money launderer.

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

BRAZIL / 24 MAR 2022

The 2021 ranking of the world's most violent cities predictably features a heavy presence by Latin American and Caribbean population…

COCAINE / 29 JUN 2022

Turkish and foreign law enforcement have seized record quantities of cocaine heading from South America to Turkey, revealing the growing…

COLOMBIA / 13 SEP 2023

Pablo Escobar's former hitman, Henry Holguín, explains how he exchanged killing for peacebuilding ahead of Colombia's Total Peace talks.

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Contributes Expertise Across the Board 

22 SEP 2023

This week InSight Crime investigators Sara García and María Fernanda Ramírez led a discussion of the challenges posed by Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s “Total Peace” plan within urban contexts. The…

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…