migrant Smuggling Ring โขBusted in Colombia:โ Five Arrested โขin Joint Operation
Medellรญn, โขcolombia โ – A criminal network allegedly responsible for traffickingโ migrants through Colombia has โขbeen dismantled following a joint operation โby theโ Attorneyโ General’s Office, U.S. Immigration andโฃ Customs โEnforcement (ICE), and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). Five individualsโค were arrested in Medellรญn, โขCali, and Palmira, and charged โฃwith migrant trafficking.
The arrests – Alejandra Garcรญa Arboleda, Josรฉ โAlonso Jaramillo Estrella, Hernando Muรฑoz Patiรฑo, Jorge Eliecer รlvarez, and Hรฉctor โFabio Chalarca Castrillรณn – โcome afterโฃ a two-year investigation revealedโข the group transported at least 114 migrants through the country, utilizing both tourism and public service buses.
Migrants from Pakistan, Nepal, Togo, Guinea, Senegal, Ghana, Congo, Cameroon, Sierra Leone, Bangladesh, Haiti, Cuba,โค and the Dominican Republic reportedly entered Brazil before crossing the river border into Nariรฑo, Colombia. There, they were allegedly contacted by members of the criminal network who offered transport too theโข Urabรก region.
According to the Prosecutor’s Office, รlvarez and Chalarca Castrillรณn โขwere responsibleโ for securing the buses and coordinating travel โคroutes. Muรฑoz Patiรฑo and Jaramillo Estrella, both professional drivers – one in intermunicipal transport โand โthe other in special service – allegedly facilitated the migrants’ travel on theirโ vehicles. Garcรญa Arboleda is accused of managing the logisticsโ of the tours, specifically to prevent migrants from interacting with outsiders or leaving the buses.
All five defendants were presented to โaโค Judge ofโ Control Guarantees in Medellรญn and have been remanded to custody pending trial afterโ declining to โฃaccept the charges.
this operation highlights increasedโ cooperation between โฃColombianโ authorities โฃand U.S. agenciesโข to combat human smuggling.