As the leadership plans to change powers to a new Government in Colombia, it has been reported that more than a dozen police officers have been gunned down and killed while dozens more have been injured in recent weeks by intensified attacks by Colombia’s most powerful drug gang, the Gulf Clan.
The drug group has been causing terror in the country since May, when its chief and leader, Dario Antonio Usuga, known as “Otoniel,” had been extradited to the United States to face trafficking charges.
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But these attacks have intensified even more recently as Colombia approaches the transfer of power on August 7 from conservative President Ivan Duque to leftist former guerrilla Gustavo Petro, who has vowed to negotiate with criminal gangs in a bid to end a decades-long conflict in exchange for more lenient sanctions.
“They are (carrying out attacks) with the sole intention of positioning themselves for political negotiations. This cannot be accepted,” warned Defense Minister Diego Molano.
Since the beginning of the year, 25 police officers have been killed by the Gulf Clan, almost half of them in the last month, according to officials. Another 60 officers have been injured in dozens of attacks using firearms and explosives. And three police officers were killed just this week in separate attacks by suspected gang members, according to officials.
“They attack patrols from behind … it’s unacceptable,” said Molano.
Officials say the Gulf Clan, which is made up of former members of right-wing paramilitaries, has launched an “armed strike” following Otoniel’s extradition.
According to police, the Clan is offering between $1,000 and $5,000 for each murder of a member of the security forces. It’s a tactic reminiscent of that used by late cocaine kingpin Pablo Escobar in the 1990s as part of his “pistol plan” open war against the state.
At least five Clan members have been killed and a dozen captured in the police counter-offensive.