Monday, September 10, 2007
The New Colombian Drug Capos
Shared Responsibility
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Self-named “The Black Eagles,”
the latest Colombian cocaine cartel to emerge is structured like an army.
The appearance of pamphlets announcing the arrival of
The Black Eagles in the northeastern Colombian cities of Cucuta and Ocana provoked fear and confusion. The intimidating flyers
appeared between March and April of last year, and since then Colombia has seen other signs of this type of armed commandos
looking to instill fear after the demobilization of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) paramilitaries.
A report titled “Dissidents, rearmed and emerging
groups: Criminal gangs or third generation paramilitaries?” was recently published by a national reparation and reconciliation
committee (CNRR) specially formed to attend victims of paramilitaries after the demobilization. The report sounds a
timely warning, alerting society and the government of the real threat that groups such as The Black Eagles pose, and the
equally real possibility of containing them now while they are still young.
Here are the main questions surrounding the latest Colombian
cartel to emerge:
Why the name?
The Black Eagles originate from the Colombian department
of North Santander, which borders Venezuela. This is where they first appeared in 2006. At first there were groups called
the gold eagles, the red eagles, and the blue eagles, but soon the name ‘The Black Eagles’ took precedence. Similar
groups under the same heading appeared in four other Colombian departments. Experts believe that the group hopes that by appearing
like an organized criminal structure with national reach they will have better luck at intimidating the government and civilians.
How many men are involved?
Around 4,000 men are linked to the group. According to
the CNRR, there are some 22 identifiable groups, operating in 200 municipalities across 22 Colombian departments. However,
there have been reports signaling the existence of up to 34 groups, but some have been dismantled and others simply disappeared.
This is likely considering the existence of groups as small as the Santander Band, which consists of 15 men. At the same time,
other, more consolidated groups exist, particularly in other regions of Santander and in Nariņo, the Colombian state that
borders Ecuador to the southwest.
Where do they operate?
There are four main zones of operation. In northern Colombia,
along the Venezuelan border, some 1,300 men operate. Toward northwestern Colombia, south of the Panamanian border, another
1,200 men are in action. Within the expansive Colombian plains, some 950 men struggle over control of the region. Finally,
in southwestern Colombia, near the Ecuadorian border, 650 operate.
Who conforms these groups?
A little of everything. There are dissident paramilitaries
who didn’t demobilize, demobilized paramilitaries who didn’t take to the demobilization process, common criminals
who where never part of the paramilitaries and are seeking their share of cocaine dollars. According to a Colombian National
Police record published this past August 5th, 1,765 members of emerging cocaine bands were captured. 258 were ex-paramilitary.
The CNRR estimates that less than 2 percent of demobilized paramilitaries went on to join these emerging criminal groups,
which is on track with comparable demobilization experiences in other parts of the world.
How are these groups different from the paramilitaries?
As opposed to the right-wing paramilitaries, the new
groups don’t have any political or ideological motivations, and their reach remains local. Sometimes, these groups even
make arrangements with the FARC left-wing guerrillas, considered now to be the world’s largest cocaine cartel, as long
as these business deals prove to be profitable. However, like their paramilitary predecessors, the new groups vie for territorial
control, use terror as a tool and are financed by drugs. As Santander’s governor Luis Miguel Morelli said: “What
we are seeing is not the reemergence of the paramilitaries. These are criminals who exist because coca exists.”
Do they have what it takes to reach the size and scope of the AUC?
This is still to be determined. The panorama in which
the AUC were formed has certainly changed. However, it is possible — the violent leftwing guerrillas that sparked the
emergence of the paramilitaries are still around, the drug trafficking that financed the AUC persists and, although improved,
the presence of the State is weak in some regions of the country.
What can happen with these groups?
On one hand, it is quite possible that these groups will
not go beyond being small criminal gangs that will be dismantled as time goes on. On the other hand, if they consolidate their
relationship with the FARC, these new groups could pose a real menace.
Will the government negotiate with them?
Up to now, the government has spoken only about dismantling
the groups via military action. However, it is plausible that Vicente Castaņo, a paramilitary leader who escaped from the
demobilization process, might be steering the creation of these groups to gain bargaining power against the extradition order
that weighs on his shoulders.
Who is leading these groups?
With the exception of Vicente Castaņo, mostly mid-level
paramilitaries whose identification is very difficult because they tend to use aliases that often change.
What is their modus operandi?
It is no coincidence that the bands operate in regions
that are key to drug trafficking operations — strategic corridors, areas under cultivation and border-states. It is
believed that the bands operate like the links to a chain, each one taking care of a specific function within the cocaine
trade’s cycle.
How well armed are they?
They have long- and short-range weapons, munitions and
explosives. Thanks to the ample earnings they obtain from drug trafficking, they can replenish their stock. Two months ago
police seized 17 rifles, 152 grenades, 5,000 cartridges and five guns belonging to one of The Black Eagles’ groups.
How are they being fought?
“Ten groups have already been taken down,”
asserts Colonel Jose Roberto Leon, director of the Mobile Police Squads charged with fighting the groups. So far this year,
379 members of the emerging bands have been killed in combat and another 893 have been captured. In North Santander, an elite
search team was created specifically to destroy The Black Eagles. Dozens of leaders have also been captured, including the
powerful Miguel Villareal, alias “Salomon,” and Heber Veloza, alias “H.H.”
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Shared Responsibility, September 6, 2007. Taken
in part from Revista Semana, Edition No. 1320. Shared Responsibility is a Colombia-led initiative, launched by the Office of the Vice President of Colombia in 2005, for illicit-drug
producing and consuming countries to work on shared solutions to the threat that cocaine production, trafficking and abuse
poses to the world.
