Approximately 3,640 members make up the gangs and groups that operate in the city of Medellin and the surrounding Valle del Aburra, W Radio reported Tuesday based on a leaked report.
According to the radio station, investigations by the Police and the Prosecuter General’s Office resulted in a deliquency map in which authorities have mapped local criminal organizations that are in battle with the Colombian national police, so that they can end the clashes of these organizations within Antioquia.
The document from the Prosecuter General’s Office confirms that the that the gangs that operates throughout the city are led by Maximiliano Bonilla Orozco, alias “Valenciano,” and Ericson Vargas Cardona, alias “Sebastian,” both from the Oficina de Envigado, once started by Pablo Escobar and later run by AUC leader “Don Berna.”
The group led by Valenciano is claimed to be made up of 8 urban gangs, with 405 members, and 50 other groups with 1,250 members for a total of 1,655 members.
The group led by Sebastian, is composed of 13 urban gangs, with 585 members, and 88 other groups with 1,400 members, creating a grand total of 1,985 members.
Furthermore, authorities indicated that the group operates in the municipialities of Itagui, Caldas, and Bello.
Medellin has been fighting ongoing urban gang warfare after the extradition of “Don Berna” and other paramilitary leaders in 2008. Most of the violence taking place in Medellin is blamed on the war between Sebastian and Valenciano, who both seek to rule the Medellin underworld, once under control of Don Berna.