Colombian President Álvaro Uribe ordered the militarization of a
number of Medellín neighborhoods to stop an unleashed gang war that led
to at least 28 assassinations of alleged gang members since Friday.
Members of the army’s 4th Brigade, stationed in Medellín, will collaborate with the Medellín Police department to improve security in the north east of the city, Uribe and Medellín mayor Alonzo Salazar agreed Tuesday.
The city’s Secretary of Government, Jesús María Ramírez, told W Radio that the local authorities do not have the ability to combat the ‘Office of Envigado’, an alleged remnant of the AUC and the emerging criminal gangs that strengthened after the demobilization of the AUC.
“We have to make an enormous effort to strengthen our personnel and our investigative capacities, because how we are arriving before judges now, we come with negligible evidence that immediately results in the release of the people accused of a crime,” the official said.
The National Police announced Wednesday it will send 300 members of the Urban Anti-terrorist Force to Medellín to help lcoal police deal with the violence.
After the surge of violence between gangs in several parts of the city Tuesday, Police say they arrested fifteen alleged gang members. One of them is suspected of one of the assassinations that took place Tuesday.