Extortion gangs tighten grip on Colombia’s key oil-producing region

In September 2023, Jaime Cruz, a palm-oil farmer in Colombia’s Meta province, received a chilling WhatsApp message from a guerrilla group—his first contact with extortion gangs in over a decade.

The message signalled the return of guerrilla activity in the area, followed by a demand to meet and “discuss” his contributions to the group.

Cruz, whose name has been changed for safety, refused to attend the meeting and instead hired a former special forces operative for protection. Many of his neighbours, however, complied and paid the extortion.

One such neighbour was taken deep into guerrilla territory by motorbike to negotiate annual payments with an armed commander. Those who refuse to pay risk being kidnapped. As an exclusive article by Bloomberg lays out, these extortion demands mark the spread of Colombia’s illegal armed groups into economically significant areas like Puerto Gaitán, far from their traditional jungle strongholds. This resurgence is a chilling investment in a region once promoted as a hub for agribusiness-led national development.

Meta province, where Cruz’s farm is located, is Colombia’s most productive oil region, responsible for over half the country’s crude output. It also produces key agricultural goods like rice, corn, rubber, and beef. The area’s GDP per capita is nearly 60% above the national average. Despite this, extortion attempts in Meta rose by 54% in 2023, compared to an 11% increase nationwide, according to the Colombian National Business Council.

The spike in extortion has halted new investments, says Clara Leticia Serrano, head of Prorinoquia, a business association in Colombia’s eastern plains. Investors are reluctant to move forward due to rising security risks. According to the article, much of this instability stems from President Gustavo Petro’s “total peace” policy, which aims to negotiate with guerrilla and criminal groups instead of confronting them militarily. So far, this strategy has yielded little progress, allowing these groups to expand their presence with minimal resistance.

The group extorting Cruz and his neighbours is the 39th Front, led by Ivan Mordisco, a dissident former commander of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) who rejected the 2016 peace deal. Mordisco operates from deep jungle regions, but his forces are now establishing control in Puerto Gaitán, despite the region’s lack of natural cover or cocaine production. Their growing presence underscores the weakness of local security forces and the broader failure to contain armed groups.

According to Major Andrés Felipe Granada of Colombia’s anti-extortion police, the 39th Front has reached out to nearly every business owner in the area over the past two years. In April 2024, at least four palm oil producers in Meta were targeted. One farm suffered a bombing, and another lost heavy machinery to arson. Other victims include cattle ranchers, crop growers, and subcontractors in the oil industry.

The 39th Front is not alone. The article highlights that the Gulf Clan, Colombia’s largest drug cartel, also operates in the area. Though some progress was made in late 2023 with the arrest of two key figures in the extortion network, the violence quickly resumed in 2024.

Jorge Mantilla, a criminologist, argues that the government’s peace strategy has inadvertently enabled these groups to expand into previously peaceful and economically vital territories. As armed groups reassert their power and security continues to deteriorate, the publication warns that regions like Meta face growing instability, threatening both livelihoods and Colombia’s broader economic ambitions.

By Nazrin Sadigova