BOGOTÁ (apro).- An organized crime group called “Los Salsas Mexicanos Nueva Generación” appeared this Sunday in a municipality in the Colombian Caribbean within the framework of the legislative elections that are taking place in the country under harassment by armed gangs in some regions where they are trying to influence the elections.
The commander of the Colombian Navy, Admiral Juan Ricardo Rozo, said that five members of “Los Salsas Mexicanos Nueva Generación” were captured by Marines in the municipality of Arjona, department (state) of Bolívar, about 635 kilometers northwest of Bogotá.
In a press conference at the Unified Command Post (PMU) that monitors the development of the elections, Rozo stated that the members of that organized crime organization were captured for the crimes of “disruption to the democratic process” and “destruction, suppression and concealment of public documents” (election ballots).
The appearance of this group occurs two weeks after the head of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), Nemesio Oceguera Cervantes, “El Mencho”, was killed in Tapalpa, in the Mexican state of Jalisco, in a confrontation with the Army.
In Colombia, as in México, several criminal groups try to influence electoral processes, either through intimidation, coercion, threats or the distribution of money to buy votes.
It is not the first time that Colombian criminal gangs adopt names related to México and the CJNG and the Cártel de Sinaloa.
The so-called “Mexican Armed Forces of Colombia” operate in the northwestern department of Quibdó, while in the south of the country, on the border with Ecuador, a group called “Los Sinaloas” emerged, also known as Border Commandos.
The relationship with the CJNG has been flaunted in Colombia by the “Los Shotas” gang in the southwestern port of Buenaventura, and in Ecuador, the drug trafficking group Los Lobos, the most powerful in that country after Los Choneros, is assumed to be an ally of the Mexican cartel led by “El Mencho.”
The legislative elections in Colombia have passed peacefully in general terms, but the police and the Army reported the deactivation of six attacks against voting stations, 22 attempts to hack the electoral computer system and 70 arrests related to electoral crimes, including vote buying.
In the northeastern municipality of Arauca, the police reported that about 300 people were found in a farm where they were instructed how to vote in exchange for money, while throughout the country three thousand 626 million Colombian pesos in cash, about 965 thousand dollars, destined to buy votes have been seized.
Source: Rafael Croda from Proceso on 2026-03-08 11:02:00
