Attorney General suggests ceasefires have slowed state action against drug trafficking

President Gustavo Petro paved the way for the head of the investigative entity not to interfere in the policy of total peace, one of the government’s main bets. Although they have made progress on agreements in this regard, the Attorney General Francois Barbosa maintain concerns about Cease fire which remains with four armed groups which, he assures, have influenced the action of the State against drug trafficking.

Francisco Barbosa said that “what the peace commissioner says or does not say is of no interest to me”.

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Barbosa stressed that the fight against drug trafficking is “paralyzed”, according to what he said The weather. Because on February 22, with the data of the parquet floor, only 7 tons of cocaine so far this year when there were normally 30 and 45 had been destroyed laboratories from the monthly average of 250.

In addition, he assured that the investigative entity has 2,363 arrest warrants without execution for homicides that occurred in rural areas and 357 accused of having committed murders of reincorporated persons. This paralysis is attributed to the four ceasefire and hostilities decrees that President Petro signed in the first days of the year.

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In addition, he pointed out that the Venezuelan regime was complicit in the criminal acts of members of the former FARC dissidents.

“If you have zero eradication, if you make few seizures, if you do not destroy laboratories, or capture the killers of social leaders and at the same time surreptitiously demand the release of the killers of journalists as in the case of the son of ‘the Gata’, with a resolution that the prosecutor’s office was unaware of, what happens is that the state action“, pointed out Barbosa to the aforementioned media.

The head of the accusing body underlined that he constantly accompanies the legitimate and real intention of President Petro to seek the total peace, in which he assured that he hopes he “gets it right”. However, he assumes a watchdog function in which he seeks to warn the head of state of errors or concerning situations, such as the action against drug trafficking of which he has already warned the president.

On February 22, the director general of the police, general Henry Sanabria gave an assessment of the police action concerning “420 hectares eradicated in February, 35.3 tons of cocaine hydrochloride seized, 8.9 tons of coca base seized, 35.5 tons of marijuana, 515 laboratories to date in 2023”, held.

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The name of Javier Alonso Veloza, alias “Jhon Mechas” appears on the list sent to the prosecution almost two weeks ago.

The police director added that in the first days of the year, 30,108 people were captured, including 8,997 for drug trafficking. Among those captured, 123 people were part of armed groups organized in ELN, Second Marquetalia, Mayor’s State, GAC or any other high impact criminal armed group.

The prosecutor pointed out that the seizure of cocaine in the department of Atlantic it was almost nil at the start of the year. There Police Department of this department, according to Caribbean Alertpointed out that between January and February 2,820 grams of coca base were seized, i.e. less than three kilos.

For the head of the investigation body, these indicators are a “bad message” in the management of security policies, which must be corrected. In this sense, the Department of Defense He also announced plans to strengthen the policy against drug trafficking, while the government gives a vision to this policy and advances rapprochement with armed groups.

General Sanabria clarified that during the month of January there was no eradication because the process of contracting was in progress. In addition, he assured that the Government has as an objective for this year the eradication of 22,000 hectaresbut above all with an institutional permanence so that reseeding does not occur.

The government is advancing in the ceasefire verification protocols, already concluded with the central staff of the Farc and which it hopes to carry out with the Segunda Marquetalia, the AGC and the Self-Defense Forces of the Sierra Nevada , the other groups with which he reached a ceasefire agreement.