Colombian authorities seized assets valued at $250 million in an operation targeting members of the Cifuentes Villa gang, who allegedly laundered drug profits for Joaquin Guzman, alias ‘El Chapo,’ of the Sinaloa Cartel
The police confiscated property registered to members of the Cifuentes Villa family, which is thought to have links to Guzman.
Judicial Police Director Carlos Mena said the operation was meant to cut ties between Colombian criminal groups (known by the government as “bandas criminales” – BACRIM) and Mexican cartels.
The operation comes weeks after the arrest of Dolly Cifuentes Villa, alias “La Meno,” (see photo above) who allegedly operated dozens of commercial enterprises in and outside of Colombia as fronts for laundering cartel drug money. In addition to laundering Guzman’s illicit profits through purchasing properties on his behalf, police said that the Cifuentes Villa clan provided the Mexican capo with at least 30 tons of cocaine over the past three years.
More than 500 police participated in operations carried out in the capital city, Bogota, and five other provinces across Colombia. According to police, similar operations were carried out by authorities in Mexico, Panama and Ecuador.