with: Santiago Medina, Nicolás Bohorquez
Research Assistants
Yesterday, October 17, the country once again experienced a day marked by violence against INPEC officials. This morning, the murder of a dragon who was on his way to start his shift was recorded, shot several times from a motorcycle directly in front of the Modelo prison in Bucaramanga. Hours later, a vehicle belonging to the institution that was in transit was hit by rifle shots on the road between Popayán and Cali, which left two officers injured and three others injured.
These are not isolated events, since since 2023 officials and members of the INPEC trade unions have been alert to constant threats and attacks to which they are victims, expressing particular concern about the appearance of a group called MAGO ( Death to Brustoral Guardians), specifically. led an attack on the institution’s officers in retaliation for operations within the prisons and the transfer of leaders.
This situation led to the declaration of a national prison emergency in April this year in response to the alarming risk situation faced by INPEC officials and, subsequently, in the Early Warning 014-24 The Office of the Ombudsman warned of the immediate danger to officers at the Palogordo high security prison in Girona and the Modelo prison in Bucaramanga, where it identified various criminal groups, such as the aforementioned MAGO, El Commando de Elite (Private). Respect for Freedom), La Inmaculada and even the Clan del Golfo, who would be behind the threats and attacks.
You can add other groups like Los Rastrojos Costeños, who work in Barranquilla, or the Tren de Aragua y Satan in Bogotá to these groups. All of these have one characteristic in common: their main leaders are kept in prisons. As mentioned since Pares Foundation (2024) On previous occasions, the current dynamics of prisons in Colombia have created an environment that encourages the development and strengthening of organized crime, and prisons, far from being places that contribute to improving security and resocialization, are becoming in their dynamic centers of crime the leaders of the various groups continue to coordinate illegal activities, mainly extortion.
Because of this, it became clear that the threats and the ‘Gun Plan’ towards INPEC guards increased after the start of Operation Domino in July 2023, whose objective is precisely to prevent extortion and maintain control in penitentiary establishments through reinforcement. strategies such as searches, isolation of prisoners and transfer of commanders. Since then there has also been an increase in attacks on officials of institutions. Óscar Robayo, president of the union UTP (Union of Penitentiary Workers) points out in his UTP, Néstor Quevedo in April, and the director of the Modelo prison in Bogotá, Élmer Fernández in May.
Despite the clear security crisis facing INPEC in the country, and the repeated warnings issued by various institutions, effective measures have not yet been taken to guarantee the protection of the lives of the officers, who have called for support from the Police and the Army is reinforced in the performance of their duties, as well as guaranteeing security measures outside prisons.
It is considered necessary to initiate efforts to focus on intelligence work against the groups that have repeatedly threatened and attacked INPEC officials, to promote preventive measures that guarantee their protection, and also on activities that contribute to effective dismantling the structures, since the fact that their members are engaged does not guarantee that they will stop working.
In addition, it is necessary to address the crisis facing the prison system in the country, since problems such as overcrowding, poor working conditions of INPEC guards and lack of infrastructure and technology to guarantee control within d ‘punishment centres. the strengthening of the organizations, and accordingly, the security situation of the institution’s officers.
