Colombian president vows prison ships to isolate crime bosses

Colombian President Abelardo De La Espriella on Wednesday pledged to deploy converted naval vessels as offshore prisons and construct maximum-security mega-jails to isolate the country's most dangerous criminal leaders, reaffirming his commitment to dismantling organized crime networks operating from behind bars.

Offshore detention plan

Speaking during a ceremony recognizing the country’s new military leadership, De La Espriella emphasized that his administration is actively advancing plans to develop high-security infrastructure. “My commitment to building maximum-security mega-prisons to incarcerate the country’s most dangerous terrorists remains unchanged,” he declared, adding that the new facilities will be developed “in partnership with the private sector.”

The Ministries of Defense and Justice, alongside the National Penitentiary and Prison Institute (INPEC), are advancing a project to convert a Colombian Navy vessel into a floating prison aimed at disrupting extortion and terror operations directed from inside correctional institutions. The strategy mirrors a similar proposal announced in Ecuador by President Daniel Noboa to station prison ships off the Pacific coast.

Historical context

The offshore detention plan builds on historical precedent in Colombia, where naval vessels were previously used to isolate high-value targets. In 2007, under former President Alvaro Uribe, prominent criminal leaders including Central Bolivar Bloc warlord Carlos Mario Jimenez, alias “Macaco,” and Norte del Valle Cartel boss Diego Fernando Montoya, alias “Don Diego,” were temporarily held aboard naval ships to enforce absolute isolation from their networks.

Prison crackdown

De La Espriella recently celebrated the high-security transfer of 20 incarcerated gang members from Barranquilla to Bogota as part of the broader effort to reverse a longstanding trend of correctional facilities acting as operational hubs for crime. “I’m coming for all of them,” the president stated. “I put an end to their privileges, their criminal control from behind bars, and the crime operations from which they sought to extort, threaten and sow fear among working people.”

De La Espriella issued a direct ultimatum to INPEC Director Col. Daniel Gutierrez, demanding immediate results in retaking control of the nation’s jails and warning that officials who fail to meet strict security objectives will face immediate dismissal. “It is regrettable that Colombia’s prisons have ceased to be places of incarceration and have instead become dens of crime — universities of crime — from which extortion and threats are carried out, murders are ordered, and terrorist organizations are directed,” De La Espriella said.