Oil thieves from north Colombia would be stealing at least 123,700 barrel of gasoline, diesel and naphtha, a month, claimed President Abelardo de la Espriella.
According to De la Espriella, the theft of the refined oil products that wee imported or produced by state-owned oil company Ecopetrol “is utterly alarming, and demands an immediate and forceful response from the State.”
Every month, approximately 123,700 barrels of refined products—gasoline, diesel, and naphtha—imported or produced by Ecopetrol would be stolen. This would occur solely on a 14-inch pipeline that connects Pozos Colorados, in Santa Marta, to the interior of the country, and the losses are concentrated mainly in Cesar and Magdalena.
President Abelardo de la Espriella
“We would be talking about more than 1.5 million barrels a year, with losses exceeding $500,000 million for Ecopetrol and, therefore, for the nation,” the president said in a post on social media platform X.
De la Espriella added that “these fuels are used as raw materials in the illicit processing of cocaine” by illegal armed groups that operate in the country’s periphery.
If we confirm that a large portion of this fuel is being used to power cocaine production facilities, then we are not only dealing with a massive theft from Ecopetrol: we are dealing with a criminal network that may be linking the theft of hydrocarbons to drug trafficking and the financing of armed terrorist organizations.
President Abelardo de la Espriella
The president ordered a “joint operation” of the military, police, prosecution and administrative authorities “to comprehensively combat this criminal economy” led by Defense Minister Jorge Eduardo Mora.
“I want results and periodic report on progress,” said De la Espriella.
Organized crime and illegal armed groups have been involved in fuel theft for decades.
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