How Mexican cartels took over Colombia’s cocaine business

Mexican cartels are becoming increasingly active in Colombian organized crime networks. It was revealed by the director of Judicial Investigation and Interpol (Dijin) of the Colombian National Police, Fernando Murillo.

The director of Criminal Investigation of the Colombian police detailed that so far this year, 23 men of Mexican nationality have been arrested for drug trafficking in the South American country, particularly in cities such as Bogota, Medellin, Cali, and Cartagena.

On May 19 alone, six Mexican nationals were captured with 699 kilograms of cocaine aboard a speedboat in international waters of the Pacific. What most caught the attention of the authorities was that Colombians usually transport these types of shipments.

The cocaine seized and those arrested resulted from an operation involving the Dijin, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Colombian Southern Command, and the Mexican Navy. The operation revealed that Mexican cartels are seeking “direct control” of the flow of cocaine out of Colombia to Central America and Mexico.

On Tuesday, July 26, Mexico City police described as “historic” the seizure of more than 1,600 kilos of cocaine from Colombia destined for Los Angeles in the United States.

Mexico City’s Secretary of Citizen Security, Omar García Harfuch, said that those responsible were originally from Durango and Sinaloa; however, unofficially, the Sinaloa Cartel, specifically “Chapo” Guzmán’s men, have been identified.

Murillo explained that the recent blows against the Gulf Clan in Colombia directly impacted the business relationships that Mexican cartels, particularly the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco Cartel – New Generation (CJNG), have in that country.

In October 2021, Colombian military forces struck a blow against drug trafficking after capturing Dairo Antonio Usuga, better known as Otoniel, the top leader of the Gulf Clan and someone who, according to President Ivan Duque, could only be compared to Pablo Escobar, “El Patron”.

“When we capture the leaders of the Clan del Golfo, the Sinaloa and Jalisco Nueva Generación cartels have to go back to looking for allies who can generate the tons of drugs they need and also guarantee them what they are looking for most: that it is a quality drug,” said Murillo in an interview with Proceso.

The Dijin director said that Otoniel’s capture directly affected the Mexican cartels because they had a “very close business relationship” with the criminal leader who came to be considered the main capo in Colombia, who acted as their main cocaine supplier.

The response of the Sinaloa Cartel and the CJNG, Murillo said, was that they increased the number of “emissaries” to Colombia to negotiate new alliances with Otoniel’s possible successors: Wílmer Antonio Giraldo, alias “Siopas”; Jobanis de Jesús Ávila Villadiego, alias “Chiquito Malo”; and José Gonzalo Sánchez, alias “Gonzalito,” as well as with FARC “dissidents.”

“What we have seen is that the Mexican cartels are sending envoys of trust, of great confidence, who supervise from the production to the transport and delivery of the drugs (…) they seek control of all the links in the drug trafficking chain, from the coca leaf plantations to its transformation into cocaine and its maritime exits”, Murillo added.

Last April, Brian Holguín Verdugo, alias “El Pitt,” a Mexican national who intelligence reports consider to be a trusted operator of Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, was captured in Cali. Requested in the United States, “El Pitt” had the mission of strengthening relations with FARC “dissidents”.

Due to their geographic conditions, although with greater relevance in Colombia and Peru, the hegemony of world cocaine production practically belongs to the South American Andean countries.

With information from Infobae