The criminal activity data of ‘Los Pachenca’, a group led by ‘Bendito Menor’ and his partner ‘La Bebecita’: up to 7 billion in extortions

The Conquering Self-Defense Groups of the Sierra Nevada (Acsn), also known as ‘Los Pachenca’, grew from about 120 members in 2019 to 594 in 2025, an increase of nearly 400 percent in six years. Of those 594, according to Public Force data, 334 are part of the armed component and 260 belong to support networks or militias. However, alternative sources estimate that the group could reach between 800 and 1,000 members.

The figures are part of a report by the Ideas for Peace Foundation (FIP) that analyzes the economic and territorial power of this armed group and the status of the dialogue process that was not established with the previous government. According to various sources consulted by the foundation, extortion alone of merchants, tourism companies, hotels, transporters, and drug traffickers brings in between 6,000 and 7,000 million pesos monthly.

Additionally, in 2025 35 tons of cocaine were seized in Magdalena and La Guajira, most of it within the group’s area of influence.

On September 4, Naín Andrés Pérez Toncel, alias Bendito Menor, leader of the ACSN front in La Guajira, and his partner, Rosa Angélica Tarazona, alias La Bebecita, were killed in an operation by the Public Force.

According to the Foundation’s document, ‘Bendito Menor’ was described as the most violent leader of the group. He reportedly joined the ACSN in 2019. He became a priority target of the State after threatening then-president Gustavo Petro. He was also accused of drug trafficking, extortion, homicides, and money laundering.

Authorities also indicated that ‘La Bebecita’ operated as Pérez’s right hand and had administrative, financial, and logistical roles.

The Conquering Self-Defense Groups of the Sierra Nevada are mostly made up of members originally from the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. Since August 2025, they are considered an Organized Armed Group (GAO). Before that, since 2016, the Ministry of Defense recognized the armed group as an Organized Criminal Group (GDO).

They operate through four fronts —Cristóbal Duarte (Ciénaga, Aracataca, and Fundación), Libardo Vergel (Santa Marta), Javier Cáceres (La Guajira), and Resistencia Campesina (Cesar)— and two special urban groups active in Santa Marta and La Guajira. Their historical core is in the high areas of Ciénaga and the Guachaca district in Santa Marta, although authorities have recorded expansion movements toward Catatumbo and southern Cesar.

Sources consulted by the FIP mentioned that the group’s extortion represents between 6,000 and 7,000 million pesos monthly. These charges are not standardized and depend on the economic sector. Thus, they range from 30 thousand pesos to 30 million pesos. According to reports, just from the Santa Marta market square the group would obtain more than 10 billion pesos annually.

Meanwhile, tourism is the most affected sector. The group applies differentiated extortions to about 95 percent of service providers —hotels, restaurants, transporters, tour operators, and local vendors— in the belt connecting Santa Marta, Tayrona Park, Buritaca, and Palomino.

In the palm sector, besides pressuring transporters, they force workers to give five thousand pesos each time they receive their paychecks and prohibit them from transporting the fruit after 3:00 p.m.; banana marketers, on the other hand, are pressured to pay extortions and, in some cases, to contaminate their loads with cocaine.

Entry into the group, according to the FIP, is also encouraged with salaries ranging from 1.5 to 3 million pesos for the lowest ranks and between 7 and 10 million for the highest; surveillance tasks —the so-called ‘points’ or informants— are paid on average 800,000 pesos.

Despite the control exercised by the ACSN, the Sierra suffers the consequences of its conflict with the Gulf Clan (EGC), a confrontation that has lasted almost six years since late 2020. That war triggered a surge in homicides: in Magdalena, the annual average rose from 204 between 2016 and 2018 to 554 between 2023 and 2025, more than double.

Humanitarian figures accompany this escalation. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), just between 2024 and 2025 more than six thousand victims of confinement and 486 victims of mass forced displacement were recorded. In Aracataca, clashes ongoing since February 17, 2026 caused the forced displacement of at least 46 families —equivalent to 172 people, 63 of them children and adolescents— as well as prolonged confinements, suspension of classes, and destruction of homes. In mid-March, the evacuation of 14 injured and the murder of three members of indigenous communities were added.

SABRINA BASTIDAS IGUARÁN

DATA UNIT