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In recent years, Colombian authorities have reported that Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán's Sinaloa Cartel is not only operating in Colombia, but it's now replacing cartels in Medellin and Cali.
Although the Sinaloa Cartel isn't alone in trying to dominate the area, authorities claim that El Chapo's group is now selling Russian high caliber firearms in Colombia.
Also, despite the fact that the group's leader is now behind bars, the Sinaloa Cartel continues to expand in Colombia. It now smuggles pure coca paste out of the country and into Mexico, where it processes it in labs and then exports it to the U.S.
In an exclusive interview with EL UNIVERSAL, Jorge Enrique Rodríguez Peralta, General Director of Public Security, said that “in Colombia's Pacific coast, the Sinaloa Cartel is now supplying Colombian group structures that provided them with cocaine; they're even exchanging cocaine for weapons.
Rodríguez Peralta said that, without naming specific names, that the Sinaloa Cartel isn't the only Mexican cartel that's now operating in Colombia.
“We tracked a plane that left from Mexico and landed in Colombia, and after intercepting it, we found a cocaine base, missile launchers and Russian grenade launchers.”
After launching an investigation, the Colombian authorities discovered that the Sinaloa Cartel likes to buy pure cocaine paste directly from Colombia so it can then process it according to the drug's end market.
He also said that the escalating violence in Mexico is reminiscent of what happened in Colombia not too long ago, and going after cartel leaders only ends up in large cartels breaking off into smaller groups.
“We're sharing Colombia's own experience and history involving organized crime with Mexico and other countries,” he said.
He explained that cartels and violence is an ever-mutating phenomena that requires constant adapting and tweaking of strategies. “Mexico accepts that the phenomena exists and we see some results regarding crime, but we're also seeing mutations and that's why they have to make changes to their strategies.”
“The violence you see in Mexico is something we lived here in Colombia years ago. Mexico needs perseverance; solutions aren't magic,” he concluded.
