A violent clash between drug trafficking organizations in the southwestern Colombian department of Valle del Cauca has killed four people on Friday, local police said.
Three men and a woman were killed in the massacre that took place in Obando, a village in the north of Vallle.
According to a Valle police commander, the deadly encounter between neo-paramilitary organization “Los Urabeños” and drug cartel “Los Rastrojos” was a retaliation between the two rival drug trafficking organizations.
An alleged leader of the Rastrojos in Valle, “Torito” was identified as one of the four victims. Police additionally found the corpse of his alleged girlfriend, alongside with two other men.
According to the police commander, Mariano Botero Coy, Torito used to be part of local criminal gang “Los Machos.”
Both the Machos and the Rastrojos are former enforcement armies of the now-defunct Norte del Valle cartel and became rivals after the cartel fell apart some ten years ago.
Botero stated that, “other members of the same gang killed the brother of Torito, which led him to move to the Rastrojos, in order to revenge the death of his family.”
“We assume that Torito was murdered by Los Urabeños,” said the police officer.
The mayor of Obando, Nydia Lucero Ospina, assured that her office would consider whether or not it was necessary to issue special security measurements in order to safeguard peace in the town.
The southwest of Colombia, particularly the Cauca and Valle del Cauca departments, has seen increased violence due to the Urabeños offensive into what used to be the home of the Rastrojos.
