MIAMI, (Reuters) – U.S. authorities are increasing efforts to crack down on criminal gangs in Colombia that are running cocaine to Mexican drug kingpins who are at war with Mexico’s security forces.
Yesterday, a Miami federal grand jury indicted Diego Perez Henao, a suspected Colombian drug trafficker alleged to be the leader of one such criminal gang, known by its Spanish-language acronym as “Bacrims.”
Perez Henao remains at large and the indictment is part of an increased U.S. focus on loosely affiliated but heavily armed drug gangs in Colombia, the world’s leading cocaine producer.
The groups have sprung up to fill a void left by once-powerful but now dismantled drug trafficking syndicates in the South American country like the Cali Cartel and Norte del Valle Cartel.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Miami also announced on Wednesday it has set up a special unit to focus on combating the gangs with Colombian judicial officials. U.S. officials say the groups are made up predominately of former members of Colombia’s right-wing paramilitary groups but also include former Marxist-led guerrillas.
Together they are alleged to smuggle tons of Colombian cocaine a month to drop-off points in Central America and Mexico where much of it bought by Mexican cartels.
More than 34,000 people have died across Mexico since President Felipe Calderon sent the army to fight the country’s drug cartels in December 2006, staining its image and scaring off some investors as the violence spreads.
With Colombian cartels battered by U.S.-backed counter-narcotics operations, authorities say Mexican gangs have now taken over the primary role of getting Colombian drugs into the lucrative U.S. market.
