Six Colombian police officers lost their lives and seven others sustained injuries on Thursday after suspected members of the country’s most powerful drug cartel, the Gulf Clan, launched a deadly assault involving a weaponized drone.
Authorities confirmed the attack occurred during a coca eradication operation in the northwestern department of Antioquia, home to the city of Medellín.
According to security officials, the police helicopter was targeted while officers were carrying out efforts to destroy coca crops, the raw material used in cocaine production. Social media footage showed the aircraft under heavy gunfire before being struck by a drone and plummeting to the ground in flames.
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Authorities have not yet clarified whether the officers were killed as a result of the crash or during ground combat that followed.
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Colombian Defence Minister Pedro Sánchez placed direct blame on the Gulf Clan, also known as Clan del Golfo, accusing the cartel of orchestrating the attack. “During an operation against drug trafficking, our @PoliciaColombia was attacked by the Gulf Clan cartel, causing a helicopter to catch fire and critical injuries to our police officers,” Sánchez wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
President Gustavo Petro said the assault was carried out in retaliation for a major seizure of narcotics. Earlier this week, security forces confiscated around 1.5 tons of cocaine belonging to the cartel in the remote Urabá region.
The incident highlights Colombia’s worst wave of violence since the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), one of the world’s oldest guerrilla movements, signed a peace agreement with the government in 2016.
Petro, who became Colombia’s first left-wing president in 2022, campaigned on a policy of achieving “total peace” by negotiating with all remaining armed groups. However, since his inauguration, criminal organizations such as the Gulf Clan have significantly expanded their operations and influence.
Earlier this month, the president announced the resumption of peace negotiations with the Gulf Clan. Yet, the recent attack underscores the fragility of those efforts.
The Gulf Clan, originally formed from right-wing paramilitary factions that fought against guerrilla groups in the 1990s, is deeply entrenched in Colombia’s criminal underworld. Beyond drug trafficking, the cartel is also engaged in illegal gold mining, extortion, racketeering, and migrant smuggling.
Government estimates suggest the group currently has around 7,500 active members, though the cartel itself claims its ranks exceed 13,000.
