Bogota, Colombia — Colombian police on Tuesday announced the capture of 121 people accused of kidnapping and extortion in a major operation targeting drug traffickers and rebel groups in various cities and provinces.
The deployment, known as “Operation Jade,” targeted members of several illegal groups, including the Gulf Clan, the National Liberation Army and Venezuela’s gang Tren de Aragua.
“We are sending an unequivocal message that there is no place for kidnapping and extortion in Colombia,” Colombian National Police Director General William Osvaldo Rincón said in a statement Tuesday, adding that “every arrest undermines the economy of criminal groups and destabilizes communities.”
Arrests were carried out in large cities including Bogotá, Medellin and Cartagena, and in smaller cities in the provinces of Choco, Huila and César.
Colombia’s government is struggling to contain drug traffickers and rebel groups now fighting on territory abandoned by the country’s largest guerrilla group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, following its 2016 peace deal.
These groups often finance themselves by taxing local businesses and kidnapping citizens for ransom.
The Ministry of Defense recorded 651 cases of kidnapping for ransom in 2025, a 108% increase from the previous year.
Even though cases seem to be on the decline, extortion is also a crime that worries the authorities.
The Ministry of Defense recorded 12,180 extortion cases in 2025, a 12% decrease from the previous year.
The government of El Salvador recently filed a complaint against Colombia, alleging that prisoners in the South American country are threatening Salvadoran residents with extortion calls. In response, Colombia blocked mobile phone signals in three prisons where the calls were made.
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