Colombian President Orders Military Control Zones in Bogotá After Security Operation

President Abelardo de la Espriella led Bogotá’s first security council with Mayor Carlos Fernando Galán and district officials after a dawn operation on Wednesday. The meeting followed an early-morning security sweep that resulted in 172 detentions, 104 of them under judicial orders.

The president announced that military control would be established in Sumapaz and the Usme-Sumapaz corridor to contain criminal networks expanding across the capital. He described Bogotá as a kind of laboratory for all of Colombia because problems converge, duplicate, and magnify there.

“We are going to deport without any delay those who are committing crimes and have records, and that is the order I have given.”

Security forces will prioritize operational actions in Suba, Kennedy, and Ciudad Bolívar to protect merchants and transporters, who are the most frequent victims of extortion. The president also ordered Migration Colombia to begin deporting Venezuelan migrants in irregular status who have criminal records, without delay.

Bogotá hosts more than 148,000 Venezuelan migrants in irregular status, according to the president, who called the situation complex. He pledged daily coordination between national and district authorities to address the issue within the law.

The president identified the ELN, Tren de Aragua, Los Ingenieros, and the organization El Mesa as regional threats. He noted that the district has previously said there is no evidence corroborating the ELN’s presence in the city despite early warnings.

Operation Kratos, carried out Wednesday morning, produced 173 arrests, one alleged criminal killed, and more than one hundred simultaneous raids, according to the president. He called it an unprecedented blow to crime in Bogotá achieved through coordination among the public force, the district, and the presidency.

The president pledged unwavering commitment to Bogotá’s security and said he would continue working until tranquility is returned to residents.