Colombia Smuggling Bust

Four people were captured in Colombia, including two police officers, accused of being part of a structure that controlled 80% of the smuggling in the country from its main ports, authorities reported.

"We carried out the largest operation against smuggling in the history of Colombia," wrote President Gustavo Petro on his X account.

The arrests were carried out in Bogotá, Bucaramanga and Cali in cooperation "with international agencies such as the DEA (USA) and with international police such as Europol," said the police director, General William Salamanca, at a press conference.

The highest-ranking detainee in the organization is Ricardo Orozco Baeza, alias "El bendído", described by authorities as "the smuggling czar" in Buenaventura, Colombia's main port on the Pacific.

Orozco was identified as number two in an organization directed by Diego Marín Buitrago, alias "Smurf" and "top smuggler in the country" by the attorney general in charge, Martha Mancera. According to President Petro, he "would be responsible for the entry of 80% of the contraband" into Colombia.

The organization operated in the ports of Buenaventura, Cartagena and Santa Marta, in complicity with local authorities.

Among those detained are two police officers: Colonel Alexander Galeano and Major Mario Sarmiento.

Orozco "recruited police officers to be able to carry out his function, which was to bring in the goods without the corresponding payment to the Colombian State," Mancera said, a loss that the authorities estimate at around 20 million dollars annually.

On his side, Colonel Galeano "co-opted other officials to pass the shipments," while a fourth detainee, José Alzate Moncay, was in charge of the "intermediation and logistics" of the piracy chain, added the prosecutor.