In the framework of the operations of stability and inhabitants’ protection, carried out by Colombian National Army during the holiday season, to increase the enjoyment of family reunion, the Battalion of Combat Engineers Nº 13 General Antonio Baraya obtained the voluntary surrender of an alleged member of the organized armed group (GAO) Clan del Golfo.
At the facilities of the Battalion of Combat Engineers Nº 13 General Antonio Baraya, attached to the Thirteenth Brigade in Bogotá, an individual known by the alias of Córdoba, 24 years old, occurred, who expressed his decision to leave the criminal structure and voluntarily surrender to justice.
According to military intelligence information, the individual had entered in 2022 the criminal front called Urdan Córdoba, of the GAO Clan del Golfo, in the municipality of Pueblo Nuevo (Córdoba), where for approximately 15 months he carried out tasks of collecting information on troops and people of the region, contributing to the planning of criminal operations against the inhabitants and military installations.
In 2023, taking advantage of a permission, he moved to Montería, Córdoba department, where he learned about the formation of a new criminal block. Later, after establishing contact with members of this structure, he moved to the municipality of El Piñón, department of Magdalena, where he was received by a ringleader with interference in the area.
In this sector, he began to work as an urban, a role used by these illegal organizations for the execution of selective homicides and other criminal operations. During the process of reviewing his criminal record, his alleged participation in four homicides was established, including the murder of two citizens in Concordia, Magdalena department, which shows the high degree of damages against the inhabitants caused by these structures.
In an interview, alias Córdoba said: "I was a member of the Clan del Golfo. Today I decided to withdraw because I did not agree with the operations that were being carried out. I want to thank the Colombian National Army for welcoming me and providing me with security. I am now a retired member of the Clan del Golfo, and I made this decision to safeguard my life, my physical integrity and that of my loved ones. It is a pleasure for me to be able to vindicate myself with society again."
The voluntary surrender of alias Córdoba to Colombian National Army shows that the pressure exerted by the troops, within the framework of the sustained military operations in the north of the country, is providing tangible results. It in the same way shows that, as it works for human rights and international humanitarian law, the troops are seen as an option for the members of these criminal organizations to abandon illegality.
Source: Press – National Army
