Pitufo is wanted for extradition purposes by a Federal Court of the United States, for the crimes of drug trafficking and terrorism.
He would be responsible for boosting the finances of drug trafficking and consolidating international drug and firearms trafficking routes on the Colombo-Ecuadorian border.
He is accused of planning a terrorist attack in which a Non-Commissioned Officer and two Professional navy men were killed in 2011.
The Colombian Navy, within the framework of an operation coordinated with the Directorate of Criminal Investigation and Interpol of the National Police and interagency with the Drug Control Administration (DEA), arrested alias Pitufo, alleged finance ringleader of the Residual Organized Armed Group (GAO-r) Structure 48, who is wanted with an arrest warrant for extradition purposes by a Federal Court of the Southern District of California, United States, for the crimes of drug trafficking and terrorism. The operation, which in the same way had the support of Naval Aviation, was carried out in the rural area of the village of El Águila, municipality of Puerto Asís, department of Putumayo, as a result of several years of Naval Intelligence work carried out by the Naval Force of the Amazon, aimed at countering the acts of criminal structures that hit security in the border region.
According to the authorities, alias Pitufo would be part of the Southern bloc of the former FARC's 48th Front, and would have been the right-hand man of the ringleaders alias Edgar Tovar and alias Oliver Solarte, already killed in the framework of military operations. Currently, he was serving as the head of finance of this GAO-r.
This individual fulfilled a strategic role within the structure, being in charge of managing the economic resources produced by drug trafficking, coordinating international drug and firearms trafficking routes with cartels in Ecuador and Mexico, and facilitating criminal alliances in municipalities such as Puerto Asís, Puerto Caicedo, Villagarzón and La Hormiga, in the department of Putumayo; and also in the sectors of Puerto Nuevo, General Farfán and Puerto El Cármen, in the Republic of Ecuador, directly hitting the security and tranquility of the inhabitants of the Amazon.
Criminal profile
According to intelligence information, alias Pitufo reports an extensive criminal record, linked to different illegal armed structures that have historically committed crimes in the south of the country. This individual was part of the 48th Front of the former FARC for several years and, although he joined the Peace Process in 2016, he allegedly resumed illicit activities later. Since 2021, he has allegedly positioned as ringleader, exercising criminal control in several areas of the Colombian Amazon, and then assuming responsibility for criminal finances in Alto Putumayo.
During his criminal experience, alias Pitufo would be responsible for the terrorist attack that occurred on February 14, 2011 in the village of Piñuña Negro, in the municipality of Puerto Leguízamo, department of Putumayo, in the border area with Ecuador. In this event, by means of the activation of an explosive charge against a Navy Infantry river unit of the Naval Force of the Amazon, a Non-commissioned Officer and two navy men were killed, in addition to two members of the Military Forces being reported missing and seven other military seriously injured. In addition, he allegedly participated in the kidnapping of the Secretary of Government of the municipality of Orito, Putumayo; and in the attack on the Teteyé Military Base, in the municipality of Puerto Asís, Putumayo in 2005, in which 22 soldiers were killed and three more disappeared.
In the same way, his criminal acts would be focused on the consolidation of strategic routes for international narcotics and firearms trafficking, as well as on the use of the inhabitants to attack the Military Forces in this region of the country.
The arrest of this finance ringleader represents a direct and significant loss to the economic and criminal structure of the GAO-r Structure 48, weakening its ability to finance illicit activities and sustain its armed acts on the Colombian-Ecuadorian border.
The Colombian Navy reaffirms its commitment to fulfilling the constitutional mission, coordinated work with national authorities and international cooperation, maintaining a permanent presence in the rivers and strategic areas of the south of the country, in order to protect communities, counter illicit activities and strengthen security in the Amazon region.
Source: Press – Navy of Colombia
