Colombia’s authorities seized assets of 17 businessmen who allegedly stole and exported $80 million worth of oil belonging to state-controlled oil company Ecopetrol.

President Gustavo Petro said on Twitter that police and prosecutors “should investigate if the theft counted on support from inside Ecopetrol.”

President Gustavo Petro

According to police intelligence agency DIJIN, the elite organized crime networks exported approximately one million barrels of contraband oil per month.

Among the companies that are investigated are the Colombian daughter company of multinational energy company Gunvor and its associates, Niman Commerce and Australian Bunkers Suppliers.

Authorities reported no arrests.

How the racket allegedly worked

The organized crime networks tapped oil from the Caño-Limon oil pipeline in eastern Colombia, according to local media.

Oil transport companies subsequently moved the contraband oil to storage facilities where at least some of it was mixed with oil that had been imported legally from Venezuela in order to be exported legally.

Some of the contraband oil was exported without being reported to international trade regulators.

The operation used oil processing and export facilities in central Colombia, in the Pacific port city of Buenaventura and ports on the Caribbean coast.

Among the assets that were seized were three Panamanian oil tankers that allegedly exported the contraband oil to Europe and Asia.

The seizures

According to the director of DIJIN, General Jose Luis Ramirez, officials seized more than 150 assets that belonged to four different organized crime networks.

Seized assets

• 26 real estate properties
• 21 companies
• 22 commercial establishments
• 4 refineries
• 7 ships and boats
• 21 oil trucks
• 53 vehicles

The total value of the seized assets is $327 million (COP1.3 trillion), according to Ramirez.