The Minister of Defense, Holmes Trujillo, announced at the end of a Security Council in Pradera, Valle, that after a successful operation of the Rapid Deployment Force 4, it was possible the capture in the city of Cali of alias Barby Mono, who was the logistic ringleader of the residual Organized Armed Group (GAO-r) Franco Benavides.
The capture of this individual, who had extensive criminal experience, was made possible thanks to intelligence of the Colombian Air Force in coordination with the Attorney General's Office. The Minister, in the same way, said that 24 members of four organized crime groups (La Cancha, Los Cruzados, La Family and Los Cheni) were captured, thanks to operations in the municipalities of Pradera, Tuluá, San Pedro, Bugalagrande and Zarzal.
"These individuals committed crimes of urban drug trafficking, aggravated theft and would be linked to homicides. They would be also responsible for the use of minors to commit their crimes”, explained the Minister of Defense, who was accompanied by the Military and Police high command and local and regional authorities.
On the other hand, the Minister presented in Pradera, the Most Wanted, which would be the same for Florida, Valle, and in which the value of the reward of up to USD $3,000 was doubled for information that led to the finding and capture of these people who attack the security and tranquility of these two municipalities.
The Minister announced that the National Army deployed a platoon with special resources, made of 30 men. “This platoon will strengthen the reaction against threats to rural security in the municipalities of Pradera and Florida”, he said.
To conclude, the National Police will send a Crime Task Force to the municipality of Pradera, which is made up of 10 military personnel and 4 criminal investigators for operations against organized crime.
"The reinforcement of the number of units of the police station will have 6 new military. New motorcycles and a vehicle will be distributed for 2021", the Minister emphasized.
Source: Communications-Ministry of National Defense
