The Ecopetrol Group, the Ministry of Defense, the National Police, the Military Forces and the Financial Information and Analysis Unit (UIAF) announced a new strategy to confront crimes against the oil infrastructure of the Group's companies, such as the seizure of hydrocarbons, attacks, thefts and theft of electrical equipment, which have left losses of more than $3.6 billion in the last five years.

The economic impact corresponds to $1.04 billion associated with care costs (emergencies and remediation of affected areas), $1.6 billion in lost revenues and $973 billion in lower transfers to the Nation.

'This articulation with the institutions and the security organs of the State will allow us to be more forceful against organized crime around the theft of hydrocarbons. We have provided these bodies with figures that show the economic, operational and environmental impacts generated during the last five years, such as the theft of petroleum products and also the impact on the electrical infrastructure,' said the president of Ecopetrol, Ricardo Roa Barragan.

From 2019 to 2023, outlaw groups and common criminals have stolen more than 5.3 million barrels of crude oil and 52 thousand barrels of refined products, in addition to 222 attacks on the hydrocarbon production and transportation infrastructure of the Ecopetrol Group.

More than 5,000 illegal connections have been identified in the transport systems, which affected more than 238,000 square meters of land, mainly in the south of the country, in the departments of Putumayo and Narino; in Magdalena Medio; in Norte de Santander and Arauca.

In the last two years alone, 1,229 infrastructure thefts were recorded: 941 in 2023 and 288 so far in 2024, mainly due to theft of copper cable in the Rubiales, Castilla (Meta) and La Cira Infantas (Barrancabermeja) fields.

Joint actions against crime

The inter-institutional action began to yield results, with the capture of 28 people in the last 8 days, in the departments of Boyaca, Santander, Tolima, Valle del Cauca and Cundinamarca.

The head of the Defense Ministry highlighted the operational forcefulness of the Public Force, with which they have been attacking criminal networks linked to the commission of crimes against oil infrastructure: 'Progress has been made with very positive results in the last three operations carried out this May. For example, in the previous eight days, 28 people linked to these crimes have been captured, in operations that have been carried out in different parts of the country,' said Minister Ivan Velasquez Gomez.

In the 'Rio Recio' and 'Moriche' operations, several raids were carried out that allowed the dismantling of criminal groups dedicated to the illegal extraction and commercialization of hydrocarbons, as well as the theft of the company's infrastructure to market it as scrap metal.

With the new strategy and an inter-institutional working agreement, the intelligence work, controls and security devices carried out by the Military Forces and the National Police will be strengthened, while Ecopetrol will advance in new technologies to curb the theft of hydrocarbons.

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