The BBC reported over the weekend on a new think tank report showing that Colombia's new criminal groups (Bacrim, to use the Colombian government's favorite new acronym) have surpassed the FARC as the largest and most dangerous groups in the country. Indepaz estimates there are about 13,000 members of the various Bacrim groups including the Aguilas Negras and Rastrojos.

The story isn't quite as clear once you read the interview with Colombia's director of the anti-narcotics police. General César Pinzón says every new criminal group has some sort of formal alliance with the FARC. They trade coca and cocaine on the black market so they can meet the orders of Mexican DTOs. He gives the sense that the FARC and Bacrim remain the most important drug traffickers in Colombia, but that Mexican criminal organizations have increased their influence over the past few years as the Colombian groups have weakened on the international trafficking front.

The cooperation isn't new. I wrote about FARC cooperation with the Aguilas Negras in 2008 and earlier in the decade the FARC cooperated with the AUC on certain aspects of the drug trade, even as the two groups fought each other in other areas. However, now that the AUC no longer formally exists with its stated goal of attacking the FARC, the new Bacrim have nothing holding them back from cooperation with the FARC when it serves and economic purpose in the cocaine trade.

Finally, partially related, the Colombian government is also going after the Bacrim for illegal mining operations. The government has identified 20 illegal gold mining complexes run by the Bacrim. It has arrested 35 and seized over 200 pounds of mercury, used for mining, during the operations. The government says the FARC and ELN are involved in illicit mining as well, but not to the extent of the Bacrim.

Source: bloggingsbyboz