Eight members of the terrorist structure were neutralized.
This important result comes 8 hours after a communiqué of the Cauca Specific Command was issued, confirming the commitment of the National Army troops to the alerts generated by the presence of GAOs in this region.
The decisive military operation was framed in the set of maneuvers carried out by the Third Division of the National Army, and attending to the denunciations received to counteract the confrontations conducted by the residual Organized Armed Group, GAO-r, Carlos Patiño mobile column against the José María Becerra front of the ELN, who dispute the drug trafficking routes in the Micay river canyon; eight terrorists died when confronted with the military units.
The operation, which had the support of the Colombian Air Force and was carried out in coordination with the Office of the Attorney General of the Nation, took place in the village of El Encanto, municipality of Sinaí, municipality of Algeria, in the department of Cauca, where thanks to Military intelligence troops found a group of heavily armed criminals who were on the move to commit terrorist acts.
Immediately, the operation on the mobility route was carried out, infiltrating troops of the Cauca Specific Command, CECAU, who confronted the criminals, neutralized the terrorists and discovered important war material such as 8 long weapons, including 7 R-15 rifles and a grenade launcher, as well as ammunition of different calibers; in addition a truck-type vehicle was confiscated.
The GAO-r 'Carlos Patiño' structure hit in this operation was led by Kevin Andery Vargas, third ringleader of the organization, in charge of obtaining resources through extortion and marketing of alkaloids, he was also head of the Support Network for Terrorism in the region. Since March of this year, according to intelligence information, Vargas has been in the south of the department of Cauca, where his structure disputed the control of the routes and the drug trafficking business with the José María Becerra gang of the ELN.
At this time the insertion of additional units of the National Army and the judicial police begins, to carry out the urgent acts of identification.
This is one of the most powerful blows dealt in 2020 to terrorist structures that commit crimes in the southwestern part of the country, which in the same way helps to mitigate the threats of organized armed groups against civilians.
Additionally, the command and control of the Carlos Patiño structure of the GAO-r is hit, the subsystem of resources of the activities of extortion charges against the inhabitants is weakened, terrorist operations against the Security forces and strategic assets in the region are neutralized and the threats against social leaders and people in the process of reincorporation are reduced.
Source: press - National Army
