Large criminal powers contest important corridors in Colombia

The balance of power in the criminal underworld in Colombia is in the river because turbulent vibrations see large criminal players who compete for control over key areas.

The struggle has broken out against the 33^RD The front dissidence of the revolutionary armed forces of Colombia (Fuerza's Armadas Revolucionarias de Columbia – Farc) in the Catatumbo region along the border with Venezuela.

At least 29 clashes between armed groups were registered by the UN office between January 1 and February 16 to coordinate humanitarian affairs (OCHA), and the number of displaced persons increased dramatically compared to the early 2024.

The Colombian Ombusdman office has warned of 11 new violence hotspots in the country when ELN, Farc Dissidents and the Gaitanist self-defense workers in Colombia (Autodefensas Gaitanstasas de Columbia-AGC) renew their fights for the field and criminal profits.

See also: The Sinaloa cartel to the eln: allies or subordinate?

Insight crime looks at some of these most important criminal disputes that are probably further promoting violence in Colombia.

Elns want to dominate the border of Colombia's Venezuela

The eln seems to be ready to consolidate its rule across the border between Colombia and Venezuela, an important way for drug trafficking and an oasis of the Colombian security forces.

In the Catatumbo region, a center of coca cultivation for cocaine production, in 33^RD Front seems to lose the ground if the attacks of the elns continue. In the meantime, the fighting has expanded to the neighboring Department of Arauca, where the elns have lit a conflict with the 10th front dissidence.

The tensions in this area decrease for several years. After the FARC signed a peace agreement in 2016, the dissidents who rejected the deal and the elns together on both sides of the border broke out in early 2022. The 10th front and its allies, the 28th front, became from the Venezuelan side and what remained in the group in Arauca.

The ELN has had a symbiotic relationship with the Venezuelan government for years and should not provide a clear advantage on this side of the border in accordance with the FARC dissident. The support of the Venezuelan government was the key to the growing strength of the eln, and it is unlikely that the dissidents can win this confrontation against a larger, better armed rival.

Farc dissident fight for the Colombian Amazon

Clashes have so erupted in the southeastern amazon regenween Two Farc Dissident Groups that Were Once United: The Central General Staff (Estado Mayor Central – EMC), Led by Néstor Gregorio Vera Fernández, alias “Iván Mordisco,” and the Central Staff of Blocks and Fronts and Fronts (Estado Mayor de los Bloques Y Frentes – EMBF), LED by Alexander Mendoza, alias “Calarcá.”

See also: Renewed war against the Colombia cocaine center

It is not yet clear whether the EMC or the EMB is achieved in its struggle for control over the most important routes and the territory of drug trafficking. The region houses about 5% of the total Colombian cultivation of coca cultures for cocaine production and is close to the most important human trafficking that leads to Venezuela and the Tri-GR-Grat area with Peru and Brazil.

In addition to drug trafficking, the region holds deposits of gold and Coltan as well as huge forests in which armed groups control illegal logging and blackmail of the lumberjacks. While Mordisco and Calarcá have previously banned the deforestation as goodwill gestures in negotiations with the government, escalating conflicts could cause both groups to achieve additional income, which potentially reactivates the illegal market for the logging market with increasing clashes.

The fight for control over this strategic corridor has led to at least 20 deaths in Calamar, Guaviare, and 13 since the beginning of 2025 in Puerto Lleras, Meta.

EMC fights against several fronts in Cauca

Violence continues to escalate the Colombien Pacific coast, especially in Cauca, a historically strategic hub for coca cultivation and drug trafficking. The region is now an increasingly overcrowded criminal landscape, with diverse conflicts for a group difficult to determine the dominance.

A campaign to control Mordiscos EMC has contributed to the fact that Cauca Colombia's second most common department last year made the second most common department in the event. The bloodshed has intensified as an EMC Splinter Group named Yair Bermúdez 57. The 57th front, the rural areas in southern Valle del Cauca, moved south to extend its influence on the North Cauca, according to the Ombudsman's office. The recent struggles between the groups in cities like Corinto have left several dead.

Mordiscos EMC factions are involved in conflicts elsewhere, not only with other criminal groups such as the ELEN and another Farc dissident fraction, which is referred to as the second Marquetalia, but also with Colombian security forces. If the EMC's battle capacity is stretched, the 57th front could use this moment to expand its influence.

The Mordisco factions have increasingly used drones to target civilians and security forces, and take tactics, which other Latin American criminal groups also use more often. The Jaime Martínez front of the EMC was reportedly responsible for the bombing of a police station in Suárez in mid-January, while the Front of Carlos Patio of the EMK carried out two bombings in a temporary hospital facility in rural Algeria on February 18.

AGC ready to grab chocó out of the eln

The AGC will probably continue to consolidate its power in the Pacific Department of Chocó, which is rich in gold and has an extensive coast that is of crucial importance for drug and arms trade.

The advance of the AGC from its fortress near Urabá, Antioquia, is at the expense of the ELN. The AGC is now checking large parts of Chocó, with the San Juan Subregion in the southernmost area of ​​the last stronghold of the eln.

The Elns made a violence on February 18 to reaffirm their control in San Juan, and started a 72-hour armed strike (strike (strike (Paro Armado) – The eighth in the department in the past two years. During the strike, residents are forbidden to leave their houses or travel between the communities, and the risk of being kidnapped or punished if they do not obey.

See also: 3 reasons why landmines in Colombia make a comeback

Around 3,500 people had already been distributed before the armed strike, and more than 2,000 other goods were limited to their houses in 2025 due to violence or threats to armed groups, with the number of figures that will rise safely.

Despite the demonstration of power in San Juan, a potential alliance between the AGC and the EMC could mean the end for the eln in Chocó. According to the Valle del Cauca's ombudsman's office, the EMC factions have reported, according to reports with the AGC. It was already fighting to defend themselves against the advancing AGC from the north and ward off the powerful EMC units from Cauca and Valle del Cauca, would probably be almost impossible for the eln.

The fight for a territorial Nexus

An AMB's new alliance between the eln and the Farc dissident tries to stop the AGC's expansion in the Southern Bolívar and Bajo Cauca region in the Bolívar, Antoquia and Córdoba departments. The area is an important connection point between different regions of the country and an illegal mining hotspot and important route for drug transit, which makes it valuable territory for criminal groups.

The three groups have expanded and determined their control over the area since the Farc demobilization in 2016, and the tensions have been high since 2023. The area is the key to the Eln, which is probably trying to combine the eastern and western regions in Colombia to support the western ranging front in Chocó. The region is also an important part of drug trade and mining of the AGC, and its connections to the rivers Magdalena, San Jorge and Cauca enable the movement of people and goods to and from the northern, eastern and western borders of the country.