The border command (Comandos de la Frontera – CDF) is a Colombian criminal group which emerged in 2017. Stuff) and members of BuildA criminal organization formed in 2006 after the demobilization of the paramilitary blocks of the United Self -Defense forces of Colombia (Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia – AUC).
The group is mainly involved in drug trafficking at the Ministry of Putumayo, where it orders Coca culture areas and oversee the transport of cocaine and marijuana expeditions to get out of points in Ecuador and Brazil – sometimes in collaboration with Cauca and Nariño groups and groups. To secure its control and dissuade the expansion of its competitors, the group imposed severe control measures, including illegal checkpointsThe murder of social leaders, fire covers and widespread threats against the local population.
History
The border command formed in 2017 in the southern department of Putumayo, shortly after the signing of the peace agreement between the FARC and the Colombian government.
Initially known as “the mafia”, the group was a pact between the dissident elements of the ancient 48th and 32nd fronts of the FARC and the constru, aimed at relaunching drug trafficking in Putumayo. Dissidents focused on protecting cultures and COCA transformation sites, while Building has taken advantage of its international contacts to manage medication sales.
During the group's early years, violence was relatively retained. Residents of several municipalities told Insight Crime at the time that they even perceived a feeling of peace in the region.
But that changed in 2018, when the first front – also known as Carolina Ramírez and affiliated to the Ex-FARC Mafia's General Central Staff (Mayor of Estado Central – EMC) – between Putumayo of the neighboring caquette. This sparked a violent conflict between the two factions, the clashes culminating in 2022 and 2023. Since 2024, the confrontation levels have decreased, each group controlling the clearly defined territories.
In 2020, the group renamed the Border command – Bolivarian army After having allied himself with the second Marquetalia, a dissident faction of the former Farc led by Luciano Marín, alias “Iván Márquez”. The border command quickly became one of the two largest sub-structures in Marquetalia. In return, they received political and ideological support, allowing them to consolidate control of the south of Putumayo and to develop in the departments of Cauca, Nariño, Caquetá and Amazonas.
In October 2022, the group published a video indicate his intention To join the flagship initiative of President Gustavo Petro, “Total Peace”, alongside the second Marquetalia. However, the alliance collapsed in November 2024 following a deterioration in relations between the two criminal groups. The border command has chosen to continue dialogue with the government through the new National Coordinator of the Bolivarian Army (Coordinadora Nacional Ejército Bolivariano), a coalition which also includes the Coordination Committee of the Guerillary of the Pace (Coordinadora Guerrillera del Pacífico), another dissected group led by José Vicente Lessmes, Alias.
Direction
The group was initially led by Pedro Oberman Goyes, alias “Sinaloa”, who was killed by his colleagues combatants in March 2019. He was succeeded by Miguel Antonio Bastidas Bravo, alias “Gárgola”, the chief of the known, who remained responsible until his capture later.
Since then, the group has been led by Giovanny Andrés Rojas, alias “Araña”, who was also the face of the group in peace to speak with the Colombian government. However, in February 2025, during the third cycle of negotiations, he was arrested after Interpol published a red opinion on his behalf.
Its capture would have caused a flaw between the group leadership and the intermediate level commanders, the latter now seeming to operate independently. According to the Office of the Attorney General of Colombia, the group maintains approximately 1,000 fighters through its areas of influence.
Allies and rivals
The border command originally maintained an alliance with construct. According to this arrangement, the construct was influenced in urban areas while the border command controlled the campaign. Over time, the two groups have merged into one.
After having broken the links with the second Marquetalia, the main ally of the command became the coordination committee of the Pacific guerrilla warfare and its chief, alias “Walter Mendoza”.
Given the disconnection between the negotiators and the commanders on the ground, the intermediate level managers exercised more direct links with the drug trafficking networks at the Cauca, Nariño, Caquetá and Amazonas to maintain the flow of drugs to get out of the roads.
The main rival of the Border Command is the front of the Caroline Ramírez, with which he clashed several times on the keys of the key traffic corridors in the south of Colombia.
ChonerosOne of the most eminent criminal groups of Ecuador, tried to develop in the Putumayo region of Colombia, threatening control by border command on drug roads. Despite several confrontations, the border command has retained total control of the lower Putamayo region.
Geography
The bastion of the border command is in the municipalities of Lower Putumayo – Orito, San Miguel, Valle Del Guamuez and Puerto Guzmán – along the border with the equator, where they also maintain a sporadic presence. The authorities of the province of Sucumbíos of the Ecuader previously discovered camps and propaganda linked to the group.
The border command has also tried to establish a permanent presence in certain parts of Caquetá – in particular Carthagène del fleshá, El Paujíl, La Montañita and Solano – and in certain municipalities of Cauca, Nariño and Amazonas. However, they then withdrew to Putumayo to contain the advance of the Caroline Ramírez Front.
Prospects
The border command remains one of the most powerful criminal groups in southern Colombia. Their presence in Putumayo – one of the best departments producing Coca in the country – gave them a significant lever effect in the drug trade.
But the lack of progress in the peace negotiations and the arrest of their first commander fragmented the group's operations. The inhabitants say more and more that the group is no longer as strong as in the past. His separation from the second marquetalia left it without political or ideological support, and its current actions are more generation of profits thanks to drug trafficking and extortion.
