A question
Given the facts described, the question arises as to how does this type of weapon of war, to which only the military forces have access, to join the arsenal of criminal gangs?
A source contacted by this means and who said that he was part of the military forces indicated that many times the situation occurs due to “the escape” or “loss” of material from the military forces’ own inventories by “human agents.” when leaving or leaving the ranks of the groups to which they are part.
“Many times the personnel who rejoin the ranks of the Armed Forces end up deserting and take with them the material that is often assigned to them. It must be made clear that this type of artifact only comes out of the coffers for special missions and that also in this type of mission, many times there are soldiers who decide to flee ”, said the source who requested that their identity be reserved.
Luis Fernando Trejos, a professor at the Universidad del Norte and knowledgeable on the security issue in the region, pointed out that there are two hypotheses regarding how this type of explosives ends up on the shelves of criminals.
“The first is that the black market for weapons in Colombia has remained active in recent years and is also very dynamic. The other thing is that many local gangs are subcontracted by criminal organizations with greater criminal capacity and in that subcontracting there is a transfer of military resources (long weapons) and explosive materials, ”said Trejos.
From another country?
The professor also pointed out that arms trafficking from Venezuela is old and would also become a possibility regarding the arrival of this type of weapon on the streets of the country.
“Part of the weapons used by the insurgency on fronts 59 and 42 of the former FARC-EP and the Luciano Ariza and José Manuel Martínez Quiroz fronts of the ELN between the nineties and the first decade of this century, which operated in the Serranía del Perijá , they acquired it from contacts in the National Guard and with the current crisis in the neighboring country it is possible that this traffic would continue on a smaller scale, ”said Trejos.
This thesis is supported by a report made by the Venezuela Transparency Organization a few years ago, where it highlighted that the grenades that arrive in that nation are acquired by the national government from military industries in other countries.
The organization documented that in recent years the demand for grenades has increased, which would be an indicator of the availability of these weapons in the hands of civilians in that country.
Precisely in a report by the United Nations Office for Disarmament in Latin America and the Caribbean (Unlirec) they detailed that in 2013, 2014 and 2015 the neighboring country achieved the highest death figures produced by grenade explosions.
The hypothesis of the smuggling of military weapons between the Venezuelan and Colombian borders is not far-fetched, since in mid-July Army troops found an illegal deposit with war material in the rural area of the Majayura district, Maicao municipality. That same group of soldiers seized ammunition and weapons in Arauca.
In Colombia, the official handling of this type of explosives is in charge of the Colombian Military Industry, Indumil, whom this media contacted to find out who can buy this type of grenade, what are the requirements or procedures to acquire them and their price, but from The technical sub-management was informed that the requested data is “confidential”, so they could not supply it.
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