‘Araña,’ Extradited to US, Tried to Sabotage De la Espriella’s Inauguration
Chats held by Colombian intelligence agencies revealed an alert about an alleged plan to disrupt public order during the presidential inauguration of Abelardo de la Espriella, held on August 7 in Cali. The information was revealed Sunday night by local television channel RCN, which gained access to conversations mentioning millions of pesos in funding, peasant […]
A Colombian criminal organization, known as Comandos de Frontera, allegedly plotted to disrupt President Abelardo de la Espriella's inauguration in Cali on August 7. The plan, revealed by Colombian intelligence agencies, involved diverting funding, organizing peasant mobilizations, road blockades, and potential strikes across several departments.
The goal was to pressure the new government to halt the extradition of the group's leader, Giovanny Andres Rojas, alias Araña, to the United States. The criminal organization reportedly received 3 billion pesos (around US$950,000) to finance these actions, which were allegedly orchestrated by Araña and another member known as Darío or Popeye.
Intelligence sources suggest the group planned to use the mobilizations as a means of pressure to prevent the transfer of the detainee to U.S. authorities. However, the strategy seems unlikely to succeed due to the challenges of mobilizing the required number of people and attacking a president during a high-security event. Despite these plans, Araña was finally extradited to the U.S. on August 26, facing drug trafficking charges.
Written by urgent.news from Colombia One's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
