The president of Colombia, Abelardo de la Espriella, has claimed this Sunday a coordinated action of the security forces, the Prosecutor's Office, and the state oil company Ecopetrol to dismantle an alleged criminal network that would be extracting "around 123,700 barrels" of fuel "every month".
"Every month, around 123,700 barrels of refined products --gasoline, diesel, and naphtha--, imported or produced by Ecopetrol, would be stolen," the head of State indicated in a message disseminated on social networks, in which he described as "absolutely alarming" the information he has received about this systematic theft.
According to the details provided, these crimes would be concentrated "only in a 14-inch pipeline that connects Pozos Colorados, in (the Caribbean city of) Santa Marta, with the interior of the country," with losses mainly located in the departments of Cesar and Magdalena, in northeastern Colombia.
"If this pace continues, we would be talking about more than 1.5 million barrels a year, with losses exceeding 500 billion pesos (about 139 million euros) for Ecopetrol and, therefore, for the Nation," the president emphasized, warning of the enormous economic impact that this illegal activity would have.
As an added element of seriousness, the president explained that the stolen fuels "are used as inputs in the illegal processing of cocaine," since "the criminals would be using the so-called 'death caravans' to load, transport, and escort the stolen fuel, managing to mobilize up to 600 vehicles, many of them destined (for the troubled region of) Catatumbo."
In parallel, the far-right leader has focused on the "critical" situation arising from the "illegal appropriation of crude oil in different regions of the country." He recalled that "we have very serious precedents like the Trans-Andean Pipeline and the situation of Caño Limón-Coveñas in Catatumbo, where criminal action has severely affected operations."
In light of this scenario, and emphasizing that "this has to end," De la Espriella has ordered a joint operation of the Military Forces and the National Police, in coordination with Ecopetrol, the Prosecutor's Office, and the other competent agencies, with the aim of "integrally attacking this criminal economy."
"I do not want us to only pursue the one who pierces the pipe. We must dismantle the entire chain: who finances, who steals, who stores, who transports, who escorts, who buys, and who markets; and, especially, determine what amount ends up in the structures of drug trafficking and who their final recipients are," specified the Colombian president, marking the scope of the offensive.
The operation will be personally directed by the Minister of Defense, General Jorge Mora, as ordered by De la Espriella. The Defense chief has advanced that the operation will not be limited to acting against those who pierce the pipelines, but will incorporate intelligence work, territory control, criminal investigation, and financial tracking to "identify and dismantle the entire chain of financiers, extractors, transporters, deposits, protection networks, buyers, and final recipients."