Abelardo De La Espriella defended plans to build high-security mega-prisons and convert a navy vessel into a floating prison as part of his plan to restructure Colombia’s prison system.
Speaking at a ceremony recognizing the country’s new military leadership, De La Espriella said plans for high-security infrastructure would continue in order to dismantle organized crime networks run from inside prisons. He said mega-prisons for the most dangerous criminal organization leaders were planned to be developed through public-private partnerships.
De La Espriella said, "My commitment to building high-security mega-prisons to lock up the country’s most dangerous terrorists has not changed."
Navy vessel to be converted into floating prison
The administration is preparing to isolate major cartel leaders at sea to prevent extortion and intimidation operations carried out from inside prisons.
Colombia’s Ministries of Defense and Justice, together with the National Penitentiary and Prison Institute, are carrying out a project to convert a Colombian Navy vessel into a floating prison.
The plan resembles Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa’s proposal to deploy prison ships off the Pacific coast. In Colombia, several major criminal leaders were temporarily held on Navy vessels in 2007, during the tenure of former President Álvaro Uribe, for the purpose of absolute isolation.
Those held on the vessels included Carlos Mario Jiménez, a leader of the Central Bolívar Bloc known by the nickname "Macaco," and Diego Fernando Montoya, a leader of the Norte del Valle Cartel known by the nickname "Don Diego."
Twenty gang members transferred to Bogotá
De La Espriella also highlighted that 20 gang members recently held in Barranquilla had been transferred to Bogotá under high-security measures.
The president described his policy toward members of criminal organizations in the following terms: "I am going after all of them. I am ending their privileges, their control of crime from inside prisons, and their activities spreading extortion, threats and fear among working people."
The administration’s broader plan aims to reverse the long-standing trend of prisons becoming centers from which criminal activities are directed.
De La Espriella instructed Colonel Daniel Gutierrez, director of the National Penitentiary and Prison Institute, to deliver immediate results. He warned that officials who failed to regain control of the prisons and meet strict security targets would be removed from office.
De La Espriella said Colombia’s prisons had ceased to be places where detainees were held. The president described the institutions as having turned into "criminal nests, criminal universities" where extortion and threats were carried out, murder orders were issued and terrorist organizations were run.
