Colombia’s National Police extradited five Colombian nationals to the United States on August 6, 2026, handing them over to US federal authorities in connection with investigations into drug trafficking, money laundering and transnational organized crime.

The five men were delivered by officers from the Dirección de Investigación Criminal e Interpol (DIJIN) and transported under security escort on a flight accompanied by the US Marshals Service. The extraditions followed requests from US courts and investigations involving alleged cocaine trafficking, financial operations and international arms networks.

“This extradition represents a decisive blow against networks involved in drug trafficking, money laundering and crimes against collective security operating in the region.” – Policía Nacional de Colombia

Alleged arms-for-cocaine network

Among those extradited was Wilmar Cortés Hurtado, who is wanted by the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on drug trafficking and criminal conspiracy charges.

Wisam Nagib Kherfan Okde and Alirio Rafael Quintero Quintero were also handed over to US authorities. Colombian investigators accuse the pair of leading a criminal organization involved in money laundering and international arms trafficking.

According to the Colombian government, investigators allege that the organization used connections with members of the regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria to divert military weapons. Those weapons were allegedly subsequently routed to structures of the Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN) in exchange for cocaine shipments between 2024 and 2025.

The investigation also alleges that cryptocurrency and complex financial transactions in countries such as Ghana and Morocco were used to facilitate money laundering connected to drug trafficking organizations and terrorist groups.

The allegations have not been established as findings of guilt, and the defendants will face proceedings in the United States.

Cocaine trafficking and international routes

Helmer Hurtado Hurtado, also wanted by the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, was extradited on drug trafficking and criminal conspiracy charges connected to an international narcotics investigation.

Jacob Estenyer Jory Salazar was also among the five. Colombian authorities allege that he coordinated cocaine shipments destined for the United States and Mexico using multiple transportation methods, including speedboats, container vessels, semi-submersible vessels and aircraft.

Seven additional extraditions

The August 6 handover followed the extradition of seven other individuals to the United States and Panama during the previous week.

Six Colombian nationals were delivered to US authorities. They included Jheison Rodríguez López and Edilberto López Farelo, who were initially taken to the Unidad de Reacción Inmediata in Valledupar after their capture. Colombian authorities said the two attempted to escape from the facility but were immediately recaptured.

Eufrosino Ramos Díaz was captured during a raid at his residence and faces extradition proceedings in the United States on a charge involving a conspiracy to distribute at least five kilograms of cocaine.

Daniel Alfonso de la Rosa Robles and Pedro Lucas Robles Iguarán were identified by Colombian authorities as alleged members of a trafficking network that obtained narcotics from clandestine laboratories in the Catatumbo region and Alta Guajira. Investigators allege that the pair coordinated maritime shipments using speedboats to move cocaine toward Central America and the Caribbean, with the United States as the final destination.

Nilson Snyder Vásquez Duarte, known as “El Sobri,” was identified as an alleged financial operator responsible for receiving and managing large sums of money generated by drug trafficking organizations, with alleged connections to Colombian and Mexican cartels.

The seventh person extradited during the previous week was Panamanian national Jorge Antonio Zurita Julian, known as “El Gordo Pibe,” who was handed over to Panamanian authorities. He is wanted in Panama on money laundering and crimes against collective security charges related to drug trafficking. Colombian investigators allege that he used a company registered in his wife’s name to disguise illicit funds as legitimate business proceeds.

The extraditions form part of Colombia’s continuing cooperation with foreign authorities through DIJIN and Interpol. The individuals remain subject to judicial proceedings in the requesting countries, and the allegations described by Colombian authorities have not resulted in final convictions.

Headline photo: Five men being escorted to board on the plane extraditing them to the US. (Photo by the Colombian National Police)

Smugglers transporting illicit drugs, arms, and gold are increasingly using commercial and cargo flights to move shipments, according to data on the evolution of air routes following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Photo: El Dorado International Airport on Bogotá. (Photo credit: Jared Wade)

Alerts generated in Latin American airports for crime and corruption increased by 147% between 2021 and 2023, according to data provided to InSight Crime by risk intelligence firm, Osprey Flight Solutions (OFS). OFS generates the alerts based on continuous, real-time monitoring of events linked to security in the aviation industry.

The countries registering most alerts were Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia. The alerts registered by OFS — valid for commercial and cargo flights —  were generated at major airports with connections to the United States, Europe, and Africa.

Criminal groups use many methods to traffic illicit goods via commercial air routes. Common tactics include stashing goods in hidden compartments built into legal shipments, setting up legitimate export companies to conceal illegal shipments, and corrupting airport authorities to facilitate drug trafficking.

Although the sharp increase in alerts likely correlates with an increase in international flights following the removal of COVID-19 travel restrictions, the data exposes how smugglers are exploiting the resumption of commercial aviation. 

Brazil

Brazil registered the highest number of OFS alerts, recording 1,737 between February 2021 and February 2024. The incidents were mainly reports of gold and drug trafficking.

An increase in illegal gold mining during the administration of former Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro (2018-2022), is a possible factor behind the spike in alerts. Increases in gold prices —  especially in 2021 — and employment woes during the COVID-19 pandemic favored the illegal gold industry’s expansion. Smugglers transport illegal gold from Guarulhos International Airport, near São Paulo, to Dubai and the United States, according to OFS.

When it comes to cocaine trafficking, the OFS alerts reveal an aerial smuggling route connecting airports in Manaus and São Paulo to Fortaleza, a port city on Brazil’s eastern coast. The increase in drug alerts coincides with Fortaleza’s consolidation as a dispatch point for cocaine shipment bound for Africa, especially after 2018. This use of this route could be an attempt by drug traffickers to evade controls at larger ports, such as Santos in São Paulo.

Brazil’s figures, though high, are not surprising — especially for São Paulo’s airport.

“The flow of travelers that travel through that airport each day, plus the amount of flights that depart to Europe every day, just make it a very high-profile airport for drug traffickers,” Mathilde Tisserand, a senior aviation security analyst at OFS, told InSight Crime.

Mexico

Mexico placed second on the OFS list, registering 700 alerts during the period of study. The results highlight the flow of synthetic drugs via domestic flights departing Culicán and Querétaro, destined for cities on the US-Mexico border such as Tijuana and Ciudad Juárez. Drug traffickers increasingly use aerial routes to move synthetic drugs because the shipping times are shorter, and they see less risk of interception by authorities, a prosecutor working on drug cases in Baja California told InSight Crime.

OFS also tracked the flow of synthetic drugs from Mexico abroad. One of the main international routes is to Hong Kong, a key drug hub in East Asia. The Hong Kong airport has seen a 32% rise in synthetic drug seizures during the first four months of 2024, compared to the entirety of 2023, according to official statistics reported in local press.

Most drugs arrive in the city via human couriers, destined for the local consumption market.

OFS also tracked the flow of drugs hidden in air cargo from Mexico to Australia, via Hong Kong. This suggests Mexican drug trafficking organizations are not only looking to supply drug markets in East Asia and Oceania, but that they are increasingly turning to air cargo as a means of doing so quickly — the air route takes approximately three days.

Colombia

Colombia ranked third on OFS’ list, with 488 alerts. Cocaine was the most common substance trafficked via air cargo. The main flight routes connect capital city Bogotá to the island of San Andrés — a Colombian territory in the Caribbean — but there have also been drug alerts linked to flights to Belgium, France, the United Kingdom, and Australia.

Record cocaine production in Colombia has favored the diversification of smuggling methods, including in the aviation domain, Tisserand told InSight Crime. Alerts at Colombian airports, tracked by OFS, increased by 275% between 2021 and 2023. These included some exceptionally large seizures at airports in San Andrés, among other destinations.

The island of San Andrés has become a major destination for domestic drug transit in recent years, with drug traffickers exploiting both aerial and maritime routes. In July 2023, Colombian police intercepted 1.5 tons of cocaine at the San Andrés airport, after it had been shipped from an airport in the west of the country, allegedly with the help of three airport workers.

This article, written by Juliana Manjarrés, was originally published by InSight Crime, a Medellín-based foundation dedicated to the investigation and analysis of crime and security in Colombia and Latin America.

In a joint effort by Colombia’s Attorney General, the DIJIN unit of the National Police and the United States Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) ICE Agency, an arms trafficking ring called Diamante has been toppled along with the capture of 25 of its alleged members. This according to Colombia’s Attorney General’s office.

 25 alleged members of the Diamante gang were captured in simultaneous raids across 4 cities.

Of the 22 arrests made by court order, 18 took place in Cali, Colombia and one in the nearby town of Buga; two in Bogotá and one in Medellín. The remaining three arrests were made in flagrante delicto in the capital of Valle del Cauca.

Under the coordination of a specialized prosecutor, last Tuesday uniformed officers carried out 28 simultaneous raids and searches in the cities, seizing short and long-range firearms (AK-40 rifles, Sig Sauer rifles with telescopic sights, grenade launchers, revolvers, pistols, grenades, ammunition of different calibers, accessories, essential parts for rifles and machine guns, and cell phones.

 An arsenal with short and long-range weapons & $97 million pesos were seized from the defendants.

According to the prosecutors, the investigation took place with technical and testimonial evidence, interception of communications, surveillance and monitoring. This criminal structure, prosecutors allege, had been committing crimes since April 2019, bringing weapons in from the United States and later distributing them to illegal armed groups or intermediaries in different cities throughout Colombia.

In arraignments, a Colombian judge legalized the arrests of the 25 suspects and the evidence. In the next few hours, the Prosecutor’s Office will file formal charges and request an assurance that the detainees are held without bond as allegedly responsible for the crimes of conspiracy to commit a crime and manufacture, trafficking and carrying firearms for the exclusive use of the Military Forces or explosives.

Under the coordination of a specialized prosecutor, last Tuesday uniformed officers carried out 28 simultaneous raids and searches in the cities, seizing short and long-range firearms (AK-40 rifles, Sig Sauer rifles with telescopic sights, grenade launchers, revolvers, pistols, grenades, ammunition of different calibers, accessories, essential parts for rifles and machine guns, and cell phones.