With his capture, the Public Forces put an end to the criminal trajectory of 13 years of this subject, who took control of the armed group organized in October 2020 to replace the alias 'Condor'. He was currently running a low profile to try to mislead the authorities.

A work of intelligence and criminal investigation, which articulated and deployed capacities of the National Police, the Military Forces and the Attorney General’s Office, allowed in the last hours the capture in Ocaña (Norte de Santander) of John Freidy Urquijo Vaca, known as 'Macho', the top leader of 'Los Pelusos', a structure mainly in the north-eastern region of the country.

This accurate result, advised in the course of the Military and Police Campaign, put an end to the criminal trajectory of 13 years of this subject who had assumed control of the organized armed group (GAO) in October 2020, replacing the alias 'Condor', Highvalue target captured by the Public Force in Norte de Santander.

Urquijo Vaca or 'Macho' had just arrived from the rural area of Ocaña to the transport terminal of the population and was planning to head to the department of Cesar to hold a meeting with drug traffickers. With the aim of finding new sources of financing for the criminal group, retaking routes for the shipment of cocaine hydrochloride and strengthening the armed capacity, the latter in the context of the confrontation with the ELN and to intimidate the public and attack the Public Force. Part of his alliances consisted of the exchange of alkaloids to obtain weapons that, in turn, were used to maintain control over illicit crops in several areas of Norte de Santander.

The investigations link him to the murder of social leaders, forced displacement, drug trafficking activities, extortion, terrorism, kidnapping and smuggling, among other crimes.

Likewise, 'Macho' was currently trying to expand the criminal influence of 'Los Pelusos' towards the municipalities of La Playa de Belén, Hacarí and San Calixto.

Among the terrorist actions ordered by 'Macho' as head of 'Los Pelusos' are:

• On December 17, 2020, in commemoration of the 53rd anniversary of the extinct PLA, a criminal organization that formed the basis of the creation of 'Los Pelusos', ordered the distribution of pamphlets, the installation of banners and graffiti alluding to the GAO, generating fear and anxiety among the population.
• Broadcast a video through social networks with the armed men under his command to reaffirm the alleged criminal capacity of the group that is quite decimated. She met last May. In addition, the captured leader is identified as responsible for the murder of Giovani Claro García, a former combatant of the former FARC, registered on January 11 of this year in a rural area of Convention (Norte de Santander).

The ringleader must be held accountable for the crimes of murder, conspiracy to commit a crime, terrorism, damage to the property of others and the manufacture, carrying and trafficking of weapons, among others. In the context of the strong offensive against 'Los Pelusos', the National Police had in late April in Bucarasica (Norte de Santander) shot Yhan Carlos Ovallos, alias 'Brayan', second leader of the criminal group, who had replaced in the criminal line the 'Japanese' captured in October 2020. In that operation, alias 'Farid', 'Richar' and ''David' were captured.

In addition, at the beginning of May, important military materiel (rifles, cartridges and suppliers, among others) was seized in Lourdes (Norte de Santander).

In September 2019 the Public Forces had shot in the region of the Catatumbo the former main leader Luis Antonio Quiceno, alias 'Pácora', at the time qualified as one of the most wanted criminals in the country. ‘It is an Honor to be a Police Officer’.