Rival drug gangs shoot-out leaves 6 dead

Six men were killed and one was injured during an armed confrontation between members of two rival drug trafficking organizations in a the Bajo Cauca region in Colombia’s central Antioquia department, report police.

The encounter occured when members of a criminal gang run by narco kingpin Maximiliano Orozco Bonilla alias “Valenciano” entered a farm occupied by “Los Urabeños,” according to general Orlando Paez.

Of the six men killed, five belonged to Los Urabeños, and the other was a worker on the farm.

Paez said the injured man was transported immediately to a nearby hospital. Authorities are offering of COP 20 million, around $10,000 for information on those who escaped following the confrontation.

The U.S. announced at the end of April that it will pay a $5 million reward for information on Valenciano, one of the leaders of Medellin’s “Office of Envigado” gang.

Los Urabeños is a drug-running neo-paramilitary group, reportedly formed by members of demobilized paramilitary organization the AUC.

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