The operation was carried out by the Navy in coordination with the Attorney General's Office and Migración Colombia and it becomes the largest of its kind carried out in 2023 with the arrest of 24 people.
The Colombian Navy continues to work for the policy of transparency and zero tolerance against corruption.
During a joint, coordinated and interangency operation conducted by the Colombian Navy, Colombian National Army, the Colombian Aerospace Force, the Attorney General's Office and Migración Colombia, 24 people were arrested simultaneously in different areas of the country, who allegedly were facilitating the smuggling of migrants from Colombia to Central America and apparently belonged to an organized gang.
Among the 24 arrested are 19 civilians and five active military personnel of the Colombian Navy, four of them non-commissioned officers and one officer, for the alleged crimes of migrant smuggling, association to commit aggravated crimes, bribery, money laundering, espionage and use of false documents.
The arrests were carried out simultaneously in Bucaramanga, Cartagena, Coveñas, Cúcuta, Golfo de Urabá, Maicao, Necoclí, San Andrés and Santa Marta, complying with judicial orders issued by the Seventh Municipal Criminal Court of Bucaramanga.
According to the investigations carried out by the judicial institution, the 19 arrested civilians would be in charge of deceiving and transporting people in an irregular migration condition from different cities of the country to San Andrés and the Gulf of Urabá, where they were subsequently temporarily accommodated in inns and hotels that would facilitate this criminal activity to continue with the displacement by sea to Central America.
Meanwhile, the five members of the Military Forces apparently would be providing information on the location of the naval units that carry out maritime control on San Andrés and Providencia, which led this criminal group to sail boats bound for Central America without compliance with the minimum security conditions, with irregular migrants that included minors and pregnant women.
Finally, another of those arrested is a Colombian migration official of the Immigration post of Capurganá - Chocó department, who printed false stamps on passports, and did not report the data in the immigration system.
Source: Press - Navy of Colombia
