Bloque Meta (English: Meta Block) was a Colombian drug trafficking, neo-paramilitary organization engaged in the

Colombian armed conflict The Colombian conflict ( es, link=no, Conflicto armado interno de Colombia) began on May 27, 1964, and is a low-intensity asymmetric war between the government of Colombia, far-right paramilitary groups, crime syndicates, and far-left guerril ...

. Bloque Meta's history can be traced back to the

United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia The United Self-Defences of Colombia (''Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia'', or AUC, in Spanish) was a Colombian far-right paramilitary and drug trafficking group which was an active belligerent in the Colombian armed conflict during the period ...

, or AUC. When the AUC demobilized in 2006, many former members of the organization formed ERPAC, which would later partly become the Bloque Meta, to continue the counterrevolutionary struggle against the

FARC The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People's Army ( es, link=no, Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de ColombiaEjército del Pueblo, FARC–EP or FARC) is a Marxist–Leninist guerrilla group involved in the continuing Colombian confl ...

in Colombia's eastern plains. Above all, the Bloque Meta is considered one of Colombia's most brutal drug trafficking organizations. The group could have some 260 members in total. The last leader of the criminal group, Arnulfo Hernandez Guzman, also known as Tigre, was captured September 22, 2017, in Villavicencio (Meta). With this capture, according to statements by the Ministry of Defence, the organization is completely dismantled.

Recent history

The Bloque Meta is believed to have been created by former members of the AUC who refused to demobilize together with the rest of the AUC coalition. These members formed ERPAC, which disintegrated in 2009, after which two factions arose; Bloque Meta and Libertadores del Vichada. These groups fight each other over the control of drug trafficking in the eastern

Meta department Meta () is a department of Colombia. It is close to the geographic center of the country, to the east of the Andean mountains. A large portion of the department, which is also crossed by the Meta River, is covered by a grassland plain known a ...

. The leader of Bloque Meta, alias ‘Orozco’, claimed in a recent interview the struggle against Libertadores del Vichada was political and not about drug trafficking. After the capture of criminals known as El Loco Barrera and Jhonatan, in addition to the death of Pijarvey; the two blocs were in the hands of the drug trafficker Mauricio Pachón Rozo, also known as "Puntilla", reunited the two groups; This time with a new name: "Los Puntilleros", with base of operations in the Eastern Plains. The last leader of the Puntilleros, Arnulfo Hernandez Guzman, also known as Tigre, was captured September 22, 2017, in Villavicencio (Meta). With this capture, according to statements by the Ministry of Defence, the organization is completely dismantled.

Modus operandi

The Bloque Meta uses AK-47 rifles, heavy machine-guns and light mortars.

References

Disbanded Colombian drug cartels Paramilitary organisations based in Colombia Far-right politics United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia Organizations based in Latin America designated as terrorist Organizations based in South America designated as terrorist Organisations designated as terrorist by the United Kingdom Bacrims {{Colombia-org-stub