Colombian President Álvaro Uribe announced Wednesday that the
Government and the Armed Forces are creating a special ‘search block’
that will take up the battle emerging paramilitary groups and drug gangs.
Uribe announced the authorities will intensify efforts to capture alleged drug lords ‘Don Mario’, ‘El Loco’ Barrera and ‘El Cuchillo’ and promised a 5 billion peso (nearly US$2 million) reward for those that deliver information leading to the arrest of either one of these three.
The Government-led special task force will be assigned to work closely with local Police and Military commanders and find “the most effective collaboration to completely dismantle these groups.”
Uribe, speaking live on Colombian television, also said some of the country’s most infamous drug lords are living abroad and asked the help of the international community to catch them.
According to Uribe, the fight against these emerging gangs is already going successfully. Government figures show that two years ago these new paramilitary and drug gangs had 4,000 members and now officially only have 2,544 members. Those taking part in the 1,200-men large ‘Los Rastrojos’ gang not counted.