Colombia Reactivates Three Clan del Golfo Arrest Warrants
COLOMBIA · SECURITY
Key Facts
- —What happened Colombia’s attorney general reactivated three arrest warrants against Clan del Golfo leaders.
- —The instrument Resolution 0284 of 11 September 2026, signed by Attorney General Luz Adriana Camargo.
- —Why they were suspended The three had been named negotiators in the previous government’s talks with the group.
- —The trigger A presidential resolution on the same day ended those talks.
- —The number to hold on to Three. A figure of 29 circulating alongside this belongs to a different, earlier story.
- —The president’s line That the false peace is over.
Suspending an arrest warrant is how Colombia lets a wanted man sit at a negotiating table. Ending the talks puts the warrant back.
Colombia has reactivated arrest warrants against three senior figures in the Clan del Golfo. Their warrants had been suspended so they could act as negotiators.
Who the Three Are
The attorney general named all three in the resolution.
They are Orolzman Osten Blanco, known as Rodrigo Flechas, and Elkin Casarrubia Posada, known as El Cura. The third is Luis Armando Pérez Castañeda, known as Bruno or Jerónimo.
Each had been designated a spokesman or representative in talks between the Clan del Golfo and the government of Gustavo Petro.
That designation is what suspended their warrants. It is a standard mechanism in Colombian peace processes, and it is reversible.
The Two Resolutions
Both were signed on 11 September 2026, and they work together.
Presidential Resolution 398 terminated the negotiations with the Clan del Golfo. Attorney General Resolution 0284 then reactivated the three warrants.
Without the first, the second could not follow. The suspension exists only for as long as the talks do.
President Abelardo De la Espriella summarised the decision in one line. The false peace, he said, is over.
The Number That Gets Reported Wrong
A figure of 29 is circulating alongside this story, and it belongs somewhere else.
Under the Petro government, the state asked prosecutors to lift warrants against 29 Clan del Golfo members. The purpose was to let them join talks.
That was a request to suspend, made by the previous government. This week’s action reactivates three.
Anyone reporting 29 warrants reactivated has combined two opposite events from two different administrations.
What the Clan del Golfo Is
It is Colombia’s largest armed criminal organisation, with roots in the demobilised paramilitary structures of the 2000s.
Its business is cocaine trafficking, illegal gold mining and extortion, concentrated in the north and along the Caribbean coast.
The state also calls it the Gulf Clan or the Autodefensas Gaitanistas de Colombia. The group uses the second name itself.
It is a criminal organisation rather than a political insurgency. That is why its inclusion in peace talks was contested from the start.
What This Changes on the Ground
In the short term, less than the announcement suggests. A reactivated warrant is an instruction to capture, not a capture.
The three named men are not in custody. Whether they are located is a separate operational question.
What it does change is the legal status of the group’s leadership. Nobody is now protected by negotiator status.
For residents and businesses in the Caribbean region and Antioquia, the practical expectation is more military pressure and, historically, more retaliation.
The Wider Policy Shift
The previous government pursued simultaneous talks with several armed groups under a policy known as total peace.
The current government has been dismantling that framework since taking office in August. Delegations with other groups have also been revoked.
This is the clearest formal step so far. It converts a policy disagreement into a change in legal status for named individuals.
What Is Not Known
No arrests have been reported. The whereabouts of the three men have not been disclosed.
The Clan del Golfo has not responded publicly. Nor has any negotiator from the previous process.
It is also not known whether further warrants will be reactivated against other former spokesmen. The resolution names three and no more.
More: Colombia news and analysis, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many warrants were reactivated?
Three, under Resolution 0284 of 11 September 2026.
Who are the three?
Orolzman Osten Blanco, Elkin Casarrubia Posada and Luis Armando Pérez Castañeda, known as Rodrigo Flechas, El Cura and Bruno.
Why were the warrants suspended?
They had been named negotiators in the previous government’s talks with the Clan del Golfo.
What ended the talks?
Presidential Resolution 398, signed the same day.
Have they been arrested?
No. A reactivated warrant is an instruction to capture, not a capture.
What about the figure of 29?
That belongs to a Petro-era request to suspend warrants, not to this reactivation.
Sources: Fiscalía General de la Nación, Presidencia de Colombia, Cambio, El País Cali, Pulzo.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error
Read More from The Rio Times