The Caparros, also known as the Virgilio Peralta Arenas Front and the Caparrapos, are a paramilitary successor group heavily involved in drug trafficking in Colombia’s Antioquia and Córdoba departments.
Previously, the group operated as part of the Gaitanist Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (Autodefensas Gaitanistas de Colombia – AGC) network, but in recent years it has waged a bitter conflict with its former partners for the control of drug trafficking and illegal gold mining in northwestern Colombia.
The Caparros break from the Gaitanistas began in the wake of the 2016 peace deal that led to the demobilization of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia’s (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia – FARC). The group capitalized on the post-FARC upheaval to carve out territory in Bajo Cauca in Antioquia and in southern Córdoba. Its advance was facilitated by strategic, though fragile, localized alliances with elements of the ex-FARC mafia and the National Liberation Army (Ejército de Liberación Nacional – ELN) guerrillas, which aided its battles with the AGC.
In June 2021, the Colombian government declared that the Caparros had been completely dismantled. However, this claim appears to have been premature, with signs that the group not only remains active, but is also reigniting its conflict with the Gaitanistas.
History
The Caparros emerged from the criminal chaos that followed the demobilization of the paramilitary network the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia – AUC).
Some reports mention a group known as the Caparrapos that was created in the municipality of Caparrapí, Cundinamarca by Carlos Mario Jiménez Naranjo, alias “Macaco.” However, most sources concur that the Caparros were formed from a faction of the AUC’s Miners Bloc (Bloque Mineros) that was led by Virgilio Peralta Arenas, alias “Víctor Caparrapo,” who also hailed from Caparrapí. After the AUC demobilized in 2006, the Caparros were formed from dissident Miners Bloc elements in Bajo Cauca that refused to disarm.
SEE ALSO: AUC News and Profile
The AUC demobilization left a multitude of criminalized paramilitary successor groups, but they soon began to coalesce into larger networks that operated on a franchise model, with cells responding to national leaders while maintaining a certain level of local autonomy. The Caparros joined the AGC franchise, becoming the Virgilio Peralta Arena Front, but they maintained territorial and criminal autonomy, including control of extortion, illegal mining, and cocaine production, according to risk reports from the Colombia Ombudsman’s Office.
The group also reached a tacit agreement with the FARC based on a geographical delimitation that would allow all criminal actors access to trafficking corridors for weapons, precursor chemicals, coca paste, cocaine, and precious metals.
However, this equilibrium was broken with the FARC demobilization in 2017 and the constant blows to the Gaitanistas from Operations Agamemnon I and II.
The Caparros expanded into territories left by the FARC’s 18th and 36th Fronts. As they did so, they began to distance themselves from the Gaitanistas, and by 2017, the two sides had entered into a dispute for territorial control.
SEE ALSO: Gaitanistas News and Profile
Simultaneously, in Cáceres, Antioquia; and Tarazá, Córdoba, The group entered into armed conflict with the AGC’s Julio Cesar Vargas Front when it sought to gain full control of coca processing areas and trafficking routes in Caparros-controlled territories. For their part, reports indicate the Caparros sought to sell the rights to the territory assigned to them by the Gaitanistas to a leader of the Oficina de Envigado.
As the Caparros struck out on their own, they sought to prosper through alliances, such as with the Paisas and with elements of the ex-FARC mafia’s 18th Front from early 2018. Similarly, they established a partnership with Ricardo Abel Ayala, alias “Cabuyo,” chief of the 36th Front dissidents, through which they established regulations for the price and purchase of coca paste in Briceño and Valdivia.
In order to continue gathering strength in Bajo Cauca, the Caparros also managed a temporary alliance with the ELN guerrilla group, according to reports from local communities who witnessed the two groups carrying out joint military operations.
The newly independent Caparros soon became one of the major criminal groups in the region, with their ranks swelling to at least 450 members, according to some accounts.
Their violent rise also attracted the attention of the authorities, and the Caparros soon became a target of the security forces. The group was left weakened by a series of military operations and high-profile arrests, leading to the 2021 declaration by the Defense Ministry that it had been completely destroyed.
However, since then, media reports of the group running extortion operations, carrying out murders, and building alliances with other armed groups have continued to emerge. Furthermore, Colombian conflict monitoring organizations assert it still maintains a presence in Bajo Cauca and Northeast Antioquia, and continues to dispute territory with the Gaitanistas. Some reports suggest the group is rearming in some areas under the name “Los de Abajo,” or Those From Below.
Leadership
The Caparros initially emerged as an independent organization under the leadership of José Horacio Abello, alias “Seis-Siete.” However, Seis-Siete was captured in March 2017, and replaced by Emiliano Alcides Osorio Maceas, alias “Pilatos” or “Caín.”
Cain was killed by security forces in November 2020, leaving Robinson Gil Tapias, alias “Flechas,” as the new head of the group. However, Flechas was then killed less than a year later during an army raid in the municipality of Cáceres.
Since then, reports from Colombian media and conflict monitoring groups suggest the group may be rearming under the leadership of Claudio Alonso Maturana Hurtado, alias “el Negro Cristian.”
At their peak, the Caparros were divided into three fronts: the Elmer Ordoñez Beltrán Front; the Carlos Mario Tabares Front, and the Norberto Olivares Front. However, it is not known how much of this structure currently remains intact.
Geography
Since their beginnings, the Caparros’ stronghold has been in the Bajo Cauca region in Antioquia, above all in the municipalities of Tarazá, Cáceres, Caucasia and El Bagre. The withdrawal of the FARC, along with the Caparros’ criminal alliances, allowed them to expand across the north of Antioquia and southern Córdoba, in particular targeting the Nudo de Paramillo and Antioquian Northeast regions. According to Colombian conflict monitoring group, Indepaz, at their peak in around 2019, the Caparros were present in 23 municipalities. By 2022, the group had retreated to rural areas in the municipalities of Caucasia and Segovia, but there were signs of it moving back into El Bagre.
The Caparros are involved in all stages of drug trafficking in the Antioquia and Córdoba departments. In the Urabá subregion, they control coca plantations, its transformation into cocaine, and its shipping to international markets. According to official government data, the group, at its peak, controlled up to 12,000 hectares of coca plantations.
The group is also involved in illegal gold mining, especially in the municipalities of Caucasia and Bagre. The criminal group is reported to have been drawing a minimum monthly profit of $725,000 from just one rural area of El Bagre.
In addition, the Caparros run extortion rackets targeting businesses and drug dealing operations in areas under their control.
Allies and Enemies
After breaking away from the AGC, the Caparros were able to expand by striking tactical alliances with various criminal actors to control trafficking corridors and territories and to counter the influence of their enemies. Among them were the Paisas, the ex-FARC mafia’s 18th and 36th Fronts, and the ELN. In most cases, these seem to have been temporary in nature, based on accomplishing specific mutually beneficial goals.
SEE ALSO: Ex-FARC Mafia Coverage
Since their split, the primary enemies of the Caparros have been the Gaitanistas. At various points, the group has faced off against the Julio César Vargas Front in Cáceres; the Francisco Morelos Peñate Front in Caucasia; and the Rubén Darío Ávila Front in the north of Tarazá.
Prospects
The Caparros have undoubtedly been debilitated by their criminal conflicts and the operations of the security forces, and they are no longer the force they were at their peak. However, the claims by the government to have dismantled the group were clearly premature.
The group will be able to draw on a wealth of criminal experience and connections as it tries to rebuild. Its success, though, will depend in no small part on its capacity to compete with a much stronger enemy in the form of the AGC.