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Operativo policial al amanecer en una calle de Bogotá con patrullas y los cerros orientales al fondo
Imagen alusiva generada: despliegue policial al amanecer en Bogotá durante la Operación Kratos · Imagen generada para EPM

Bogota Operation Kratos Leads to 172 Arrests Across Eight Districts

Operation Kratos in Bogota produced 172 arrests and 114 raids across eight districts, with seizures of weapons, explosives, drugs and 10.1 million pesos, in a…

--- The context --- Bogota woke up on Wednesday, October 28, to a large-scale security offensive across eight districts, focused on Santa Fe, San Bernardo and Ciudad Bolivar. The intervention, called Operation Kratos, is part of the Urban Security Blocks, the program that President Abelardo De La Espriella announced three months earlier in Barranquilla and which, he explained, will extend to a first group of cities and then to the rest of the country. The stated goal was to regain control of areas affected by crime. --- The facts --- The mobilization began at 1:17 a. m. with the arrival of the presidential caravan at the Metropolitan Police headquarters in the Salitre sector, where units of the National Police, the National Army and the Prosecutor's Office were gathered and departed for their assigned points at about 1:30 a. m. The president followed the actions in real time from police headquarters and confirmed on his X account that he led the operation. The official balance reported 172 arrests and 114 raids against bands linked to more than 350 homicides. Authorities seized 11 firearms, three grenades, 72 cartridges, 34 cell phones and three magazines, along with 2,270 grams of marijuana, 130 grams of cocaine, 2,250 grams of bazuco, 250 tusi packets and 10.1 million pesos in cash. One motorcycle was seized and another was recovered. Those arrested include alias Picolino, the alleged leader of Los Ingenieros in Usme, and alias Milo, accused of throwing a grenade on January 22 in an incident where a street vendor died. --- The positions --- Mayor Carlos Fernando Galan told the head of state that there is no record of an operation hitting eight districts at once, and he credited several months of investigation and coordinated work between the national government and the mayor's office. Brigadier General Giovanny Cristancho, director of the Metropolitan Police, said alias Picolino led a group in Usme linked to homicides, conspiracy to commit crime, extortion, kidnapping and forced displacement, which fired shots to intimidate and charged extortion payments. Councilman Andres Barrios Bernal praised the president for responding to reports about San Bernardo, an area hit by crime and micro-trafficking. Representative Daniel Briceno highlighted the intervention in Santa Fe and San Bernardo and said the city center had declined over the last 7 years due to abandonment and lack of authority. --- What remains unknown --- The balance released so far does not yet detail how many of the 172 arrested will be prosecuted, what charges each one will face or how the raids were distributed among the eight districts. No dated plan for a continued presence in the intervened sectors has been reported either, nor a concrete schedule for extending the Urban Security Blocks to the other announced cities. --- Unanswered questions --- How many of the 172 arrested will be prosecuted, and on what charges, in the coming days? What concrete measures will protect residents of Santa Fe, San Bernardo and Ciudad Bolivar after the deployment? When will the schedule for operations in the program's other cities be announced? --- EPM analysis --- The simultaneous scale of the deployment sets this operation apart from earlier focused actions, according to the mayor's office balance itself. Its lasting effect will depend on prosecuting those arrested, including alias Picolino, whom the president linked to more than 15 years of criminal activity, and alias Milo, who according to the president could face a sentence of more than 40 years for homicide. De La Espriella said the security forces have his backing as commander in chief and anticipated that Picolino, once prosecuted, would be sent to a maximum security prison. 📌 EPM Take: In EPM's view, the central value of Operation Kratos lies in the verifiable coordination among the national government, the mayor's office, the Police, the Army and the Prosecutor's Office, because Bogota's security requires institutions that act together and account for results with concrete figures. The 172 arrests and 114 raids now open the most demanding stage, the full prosecution of each case, the protection of the neighborhoods that were intervened and a sustained state presence so that one early morning of relief becomes lasting calm for residents and merchants across the eight districts reached by the deployment in the Colombian capital.
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