Los Pachenca Emerge After Return of Paramilitary Boss to Colombia
AUC
/ 18 MAR 2021 BY JUAN DIEGO POSADA
In the wake of former paramilitary leader Hernán Giraldo’s deportation to Colombia, an armed group linked to him has reappeared in a coastal region he once controlled, raising fears of his influence on the criminal landscape.
At the end of February, a pamphlet signed by the Conquering Self Defense Forces of the Sierra Nevada (Autodefensas Conquistadoras de la Sierra Nevada – ACSN) circulated among merchants at a market in the Caribbean port city of Santa Marta. The ACSN — better known as Los Pachenca drug gang — demanded merchants pay between 12 to 70 million pesos ($3,329 – $19,400), El Tiempo reported.
The payments, according to the group, were for protection from other criminal groups in the region, such as the Urabeños drug gang and ex-militants with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia – FARC). Santa Marta Police Commander Óscar Solarte, said an investigation into the pamphlets has begun.
The ACSN’s threats come just weeks after Giraldo, 72, was deported to Colombia after serving a 12-year prison sentence in the United States for drug trafficking. Giraldo was taken into custody upon landing in Colombia, where he still faces charges — including homicide, kidnapping, torture, human trafficking, and forced displacement — from when he led the Bloque Resistencia Tayrona paramilitary force.
More:
https://insightcrime.org/news/paramilitary-leader-return-stroke-fear-northern-colombia/
