Colombia
Six police officers killed in fighting with a drug cartel
Six police officers died during clashes with men belonging to the Del Golfo clan, who also killed a helicopter.
Shared images on social networks show the helicopter flying over the region, followed by detonation and its fall. (Illustration image)
AFP
Six police officers were killed and seven others injured Thursday in clashes and a drone attack in the Del Golfo clan, the largest group of drug traffickers in Colombia, in the Antioquia (North-West) department, police and the Ministry of Defense said.
A police official told AFP that the attackers had “harassed” a group of people responsible for eradicating coca leaf plantations. They also attacked one of their helicopters using a drone, who crashed on the ground.
Shared images on social networks show the helicopter flying over the region, followed by detonation and its fall. The Ministry of Defense said on X that the attackers are members of the DEL Golfo clan, with some 7,500 members, according to military information.
Use of increases
Left president Gustavo Petrowhich is trying to conduct peace agreements with most of the armed groups operating in Colombia, said on X that the Colombian authorities had “seized a ton and a half of cocaine from the Del Golfo clan, and their reaction” was to “shoot down a police helicopter”.
According to a report by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the victims of explosive devices, in particular due to the “intensive use” of drones, doubled in the first months of 2025.
These new clashes arise while the Del Golfo clan and government emissaries have returned to Qatar this week a dialogue started in 2023.
Failure of the eradication plan
Colombia, the world’s leading producer of cocaine, recorded a record of 253,000 hectares of coca leaves culture in 2023. The government of Gustavo Petro pushed a voluntary eradication plan by the peasants, accompanied by economic incentives.
The Golfo clan, an organization based on the ashes of ex-right-right milices demobilized in the 2000s, draws significant income from cocaine traffic but also from illegal extortion and mining.
According to the Center for Studies “Foundation for Peace”, the DEL Golfo clan operates in 300 municipalities among the more than 1100s as the country has and continues to strengthen.
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