Elite Police Group Sent to Quibdó in the Face of Worrying Wave of Violence

In the last two nights, in the city of Quibdó there have been heavy shootings that leave several injured and killed. The situation of violence, which would respond to clashes by criminal gangs, has the city authorities on alert.

The mayor, Marín Emilio Sánchez Valencia, arrived in Bogotá on Wednesday to meet with the national authorities and ask for a greater presence of the security forces in Quibdó, to ensure security and public order.

“Last night there was violence in Quibdo, where two people were killed and two wounded and this afternoon clashes continue between the bandits in the city of Quibdo. So far this year we have had 58 homicides, that is a figure that frightens all citizens,” said Sánchez in a video released with environmental activist Camilo Prieto.

With the new clashes, the numbers already exceed 60 homicides, indicating that every other day crime takes the life of a new person. This situation puts the authorities on alert, especially when the shootings have occurred in residential areas and have affected civilians, such as a 4-year-old girl injured in one of the shootings.

According to the newspaper El Tiempo, on April 7, a group from the Special Operations and Counter-Terrorism Command Unit (COPES) arrived in the capital of Chocó to strengthen security efforts.

This special group would be made up of armed men equipped with anti-crime technology, who would support actions against criminal groups in both urban and rural areas and prevent the repetition of the actions of recent days.

The newspaper added that on Wednesday afternoon, the police confronted the criminals and caused the deaths of three. However, the confrontation reportedly left at least two civilians injured and one policeman also affected by an impact on one shoulder.

As Brigadier General Gustavo Franco Gomez, commander of Police Region No. 6, explained to Noticias Caracol, this is a confrontation between known as Los Mexicanos and Los Palmeños, due to an apparent difference of passion between the leaders of both groups.

Members of these criminal groups reportedly arrived around 8:00 p.m. on April 5 on the banks of the city's Atrato River, at the height of the San Vicente neighborhood, where the deaths of two people and three other injuries were recorded.

However, the shootings also spread to the Horizonte, La Playita and Simon Bolivar neighborhoods, where other people were injured in their wake. Apart from the fear of the shootings, they have also intimidated the population with threatening pamphlets to prevent them from leaving their homes, as well as messages spread through Whatsapp.

That is why the mayor of the city Sánchez Valencia has called the government's attention to an increase in the force force, even with the possibility of militarization, to increase patrols and protect the population.

María Alejandra Vélez, director of the Center for Drug and Safety Studies (CESED) of the University of Los Andes, explained to Caracol Radio that security actions must have specific strategies for the type of groups that play a role in violence in Quibdó.

According to him, it could be a new type of criminal organizations that go beyond urban dynamics, that have links with armed organizations and that would aim to exercise territorial control, under criminal governance. The department of Chocó has not seen peace, it has been through the violence of the ELN, the FARC and the Gulf Clan and now the strongholds of the last two.

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