There are three units that are working for the security in Pueblo Rico, Risaralda: the Field Artillery Battalion N.° 8, the Light Cavalry Group N.° 6 and the Coffee Axis Military Gaula (Anti-Extortion and Anti-Kidnapping Group), which protect the border sector with the department of Chocó, to prevent the transit of organized armed groups to Risaralda territory.
Protecting Colombians is the main purpose of Colombian National Army in the department of Risaralda, and it does so with the deployment of 300 men in strategic points of the municipalities of Pueblo Rico and Mistrató, Risaralda, both in the rural area and on the road that contacts with the department of Chocó.
Thus, with several checkpoints, which are carried out permanently, more than 30 kilometers that connect the two regions are protected, carrying out inspections and requisitions to the vehicles that pass between the municipality of Pueblo Rico and the village of Santa Cecilia and from this point to the Guarato Bridge, which contacts with the department of Chocó, in accordance with Law 769 of August 6, 2002, by which the National Land Traffic Code is issued along with other provisions.
In view of the law and order situation that is being experienced in the department of Chocó, the commander of the Field Artillery Battalion No. 8, Lieutenant Colonel Mario Alberto Celis, said: "We are working to maintain the dynamics of the military operation throughout the department of Risaralda and, of course, a great job on the border with the department of Chocó, so that, in this way, we tell the Risaraldans that their Army is there, conducting defensive and stability operations to contain the armed groups that seek to destabilize the tranquility that characterizes the coffee axis."
The troops of the Eighth Brigade that are in this sector of the country are arranged through differential resources; a motorized platoon of the Light Cavalry Group N.° 6, a detachment of the Military Gaula (Anti-Extortion and Anti-Kidnapping Group), which travels the place to prevent and counter the crime of extortion and the troops of the Field Artillery Battalion N.° 8, in the area of operations, protecting the rural sectors and the mobility routes between the two departments.
Source: Press - Fifth Division
