Investigative and monitoring activities of the Prosecutor’s Office have just allowed the capture of 6 indicated members of a criminal organization that supplies chemical inputs to armed groups and drug traffickers for the production of cocaine in Norte de Santander and the Catatumbo area.
The Investigative Unit of EL TIEMPO established that the chemicals were brought from China and South American countries through two front companies, legally established to appear legal in imports of yellow machinery.
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Companies and connections
The ELN camp was bombed with drones. Photo:Social networks/ Google Maps
The noted brain of the organization is Yorjan Palacio Villalba, owner of the firms that brought the supplies and later distributed them in trucks to areas controlled by the ELN in the departments of Cesar and Norte de Santander. Although it is not ruled out that they crossed the border with Venezuela.
In fact, a link with the bombed Eleno camp in the state of Apure that leaves an initial balance of 19 guerrillas dead and marks a milestone in the war against drug trafficking in the neighboring country.
According to records held by investigators, to which he had access EL TIEMPO, the neutralized organization imported calcium chloride, gallons of hydrocarbons, N-propyl acetate, hydrochloric acid, xylene, isobutanol and acetyl chloride. All of these products are key to the transformation of coca paste into cocaine, a process that is carried out in drug laboratories similar to the one located in Venezuela.
Presence of FARC and ELN in Venezuela Photo:Courtesy Fanb
According to customs records, The massive importation of these products was recorded from October 2024 to May 2026 when cocaine production in the area bordering Venezuela skyrocketed.
The Investigative Unit of EL TIEMPO investigated and established that Palacio Villalba has the company in his name. Ferre Químicos Ocaña, registered in May 2017 and dedicated to the wholesale trade of basic chemical products, rubber and plastics in primary forms and chemical products for agricultural use.
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Other imports
Seizure of chemicals for cocaine production. Reference photo. Photo:Anti-narcotics Police
Another company that is tracked is Candles and candle holders San Jerónimo. Its assets barely exceed 45 million pesos, according to the Norte de Santander Chamber of Commerce. But it is also part of the import network.
In addition to China, Customs manifests point to Germany, Japan and the United States as alternative suppliers of other products that gave the companies the appearance of legality.
Heavy industrial machinery was brought from these countries, manufacturing material and precision equipment. According to records, imports totaled more than 294 thousand dollars, almost one billion pesos, between 2015 and 2021.
“The income of the companies does not match the amounts of imported chemicals“said one of the researchers.
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They did not accept charges
Laboratory to produce cocaine dismantled in Norte de Santander. Photo:Army
Palacio Villalba also registers imports of DL Tetramisol, It is a medicine for veterinary use, but it is also used for the processing of coca.
The others prosecuted were identified as Wilson Castillo Lindarte, Breider Alexis Calderón Martínez, Sebastián Contreras Tamayo, Javier Angarita and Yesid Alejandro Franco Ramírez.
According to the Prosecutor’s Office, they took on the tasks of supervising the routes, transportation and concealing the traceability of the precursors.
The Prosecutor’s Office charged the six defendants with conspiracy to commit a crime. aggravated and trafficking of substances for the processing of narcotics. None of them accepted the charges and a guarantee control judge imposed a security measure on them in a prison facility while the process progresses.
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