Two of those arrested are believed to be father and son, who were involved in collecting extortion payments and recruiting young people to join this armed group in Santander. This outcome represents a significant blow to the Edgar Madrid Benjumea substructure.
As part of decisive military operations aimed at fulfilling the strategic objectives of Plan Ayacucho Plus, troops from the National Army’s Fifth Brigade, in coordination with National Police units, carried out search and seizure operations leading to the arrest—pursuant to a court order—of three alleged members of the organized armed group (GAO) known as the Gulf Clan, belonging to the Edgar Madrid Benjumea substructure, in the rural village of San Rafael de Lebrija, municipality of Rionegro, Santander.
Among those arrested is alias Gutiérrez or Luchito, 22, identified as the alleged logistics leader of the group and a high-value target for the second half of the year, after he allegedly took over the criminal activities of his father, alias Pescado, the organization’s former financial leader, who is currently in custody. Also arrested was alias Picoro, 24, the alleged urban coordinator and person responsible for collecting illicit funds; and alias Mono or Picoro, 54, the former’s father, identified as the alleged recruiter of members for the substructure’s targeted criminal unit.
According to the investigations, those arrested are believed to be responsible for conducting criminal intelligence operations to identify potential victims of extortion among cattle ranchers, palm oil growers, and merchants in the region. They are also believed to be linked to activities related to local drug trafficking, the movement of ringleaders along strategic corridors in Santander, southern Bolívar, and southern Cesar, as well as the transport of war material intended for the execution of criminal acts.
This operational success significantly undermines the substructure’s ability to obtain strategic information about the population, coordinate the movement of its members, distribute narcotics, and transport weapons, thereby weakening its criminal activities in municipalities such as Rionegro, Lebrija, Sabana de Torres, and Puerto Wilches in Santander; San Martín in Cesar; and La Esperanza in Norte de Santander.Those arrested were handed over to the competent judicial authority to proceed with legal proceedings and face charges for the alleged crime of conspiracy to commit a crime.
The Fifth Brigade of the National Army will continue to carry out joint, coordinated, and interagency military operations to neutralize threats from organized armed groups, protect the civilian population, and strengthen security and stability in the department of Santander and the municipalities of southern Cesar under its jurisdiction.
