Through videos, ranchers from the northern part of the department publicized the reappearance of butchering as a practice of gangs dedicated to the clandestine sale of meat. The decrease in crime in 2022 had generated some peace of mind for cattle breeders.
The rustling and the slaughter continue to be a practice that from time to time hits the cattle union in Colombia. Last year, according to figures from the National Cattlemen’s Federation, more than 1,300 head of cattle were stolen in the country.
In Huila, the most common practice is butchering, which consists of slaughtering the cattle in the pastures themselves, taking the best of their meat to market it, leaving the remains of the animal in place, which the criminals consider to be unmarketable. .
In addition, Huila is a strategic corridor for moving stolen cattle from Caquetá to the center of the country for the purpose of selling it illegally. In this sense, the authorities have managed to deal certain blows to organized criminals who disappear for a while, but then emerge again due to the fragility of security and control measures.
The latest in Huila
Since the previous week, farmers dedicated to livestock in the municipalities of Aipe and Palermo denounced the reappearance of gangs dedicated to butchering. They begin by sacrificing a cattle and then, given the response to its commercialization, they take confidence and go so far as to slaughter up to five and six cattle, as happened in the rural area of Aipe, according to those denounced by those affected who preferred to remain anonymous.
“In videos that they sent through the networks, it is observed how several cattle were slaughtered in their owners’ own pastures.
Diario del Huila, spoke with the manager of the Huila Livestock Fund, Luceny Muñoz, who confirmed the repair of a scourge that they must be attentive to combat.
“Unfortunately, in recent weeks we have been presented with cases mainly of butchering and specifically in the municipality of Aipe, in which one of our farmers was slaughtered under the modality of butchering, five dairy cows in the early hours of the morning and we have been able to show that it is an organized gang,” said Luceny.
This is corroborated when it is verified that they begin to act jointly with different actors that allow them to reach the farms, slaughter the animals and take them to the informal marketing points, to obtain profitability.
“In Palermo we have also had some cases of carnage and we are as a union, very attentive, articulating with the metropolitan police in this case in these two municipalities, especially with the SIJIN, who have assigned some investigators and we are trying to ensure that the same community and the producers support us to find these criminals, because it has already been proven that it is a gang”, he added.
This type of organized activity had not occurred since 2021, in which a highly organized gang at the time called “Los refrigeradores” was captured and in 2022 some isolated cases were reported, but not of this magnitude, so in 2023 there are some cases with characteristics of an organized gang.
“We have been very attentive, the investigations of the case are being carried out, requesting the producers to file a formal complaint, with a judicial note that allows the investigators to move forward, but we are still concerned and attentive that it does not continue to happen to us and now it is coming. Holy Week, which is a date that historically facilitates this type of theft”, reinforced the manager of the Livestock Fund.
The call that was made to the producers is to have the fences in good condition, to have communication with the surrounding farms, to report people who are not part of the community of the village, vehicles that normally do not move through the area, to rule out the presence of bandits who can carry out thefts in the properties of the region.
appear and disappear
These organized gangs tend to appear and disappear, depending on the behavior that the ranchers themselves and the authorities have analyzed. But once the spirits calm down and controls are reduced, they get organized and act again.
“Normally when there is a very good presence and controls in fact not only by police officers but also by the highway police themselves, with control on the roads of vehicles that mobilize animals, with their respective guides, in the face of this significant pressure, they do not have much presence , but when the work articulated with the institutionality is left aside, their presence is facilitated and they return to their modus operandi”, he added.
Muñoz, said that initially they start sacrificing a cow in a weekend or a maximum of two and as the business becomes profitable, it is when they choose to start growing, linking other actors to the point of being an entire organization and reaching cases like those that have just happened in the municipality of Aipe.
Around the number of cattle slaughtered in the case of the municipality of Aipe, it easily represents the meat consumed in a weekend in a municipality of the department.
Abigeato and Carneo-
A bit to illustrate the readers who, like many of us do not know about the difference between meat and cattle rustling, we asked the manager of the Huila Livestock Fund, what is the difference.
“Carneo is a practice of slaughtering animals in their own paddocks or corrals, extracting the best of their meat for sale. Normally it is carried out by people who know how to slaughter and cut meat to take advantage of the best of the animals for sale, the legs, the loins or what we commonly call the pulp, ”he said.
The rest, such as the head, horns, leather, legs and the entire bone system of the animal, is discarded and left in the place of sacrifice itself.
“The rustling is a practice that consists of transporting a large number of live animals in trucks, animals on foot, a modality called business that has happened to us in Huila. There is also the simple cattle rustling that consists of moving one or two animals from paddock to paddock until they are removed from the area”.
Recommendations to farmers
“Tell the farmers to be very attentive, that if possible gather the dairy cattle at night in a pasture near the house and verify the state of the fences that are in good condition, to prevent the animals from having the possibility of leaving the farm or on the tracks, which also facilitates the theft process”, made the recommendation.
He insisted on permanent and timely communication with the neighbors and when there is the presence of people or vehicles that are not from the area, communicate in a timely manner, but also inform the authorities so that they can act.
“From the committee we are going to be very attentive, to support them when the facts are presented, we are attentive so that they are attended by the investigative entity and police of carabineros so that they can advance the respective complaint and can enter the investigation process”, he concluded.
national context
More than 1,300 bovines were stolen from farmers in Colombia in 2022 and so far this year, that is, in the first days of 2023, 322 cattle have already been stolen in the country.
The livestock sector calls for greater support from the authorities to combat cattle rustling or theft.
The rustling continues to be one of the great scourges that is affecting the Colombian livestock sector; being Meta, Cesar, Sucre and Boyacá, the departments most affected by this crime.
This was announced by the National Federation of Cattlemen (Fedegan) by revealing that in 2022 the theft of 1,350 head of cattle was registered in 265 cases of cattle rustling reported and so far in 2023, the figure represents 24% of the total report for the year past, that is, 322 livestock in 88 reported cases.
“Organized crime affects livestock activity in a worrisome and uninterrupted manner, in view of which, it is necessary to strengthen the relationship and cooperation between all the agents that intervene in the dynamics of the country’s bovine livestock sector with the National Police,” said José Felix Lafaurie Rivera, president of Fedegan.
Affectation to the guild for the winter
Taking advantage of the presence of the manager, Luceny Muñoz, this publishing house inquired about the effects that the rains of recent times have caused them.
There are many difficulties because the winter has been very strong and in rural areas there have been overflows of streams, damage to roads, collapse of bridges, which affect, above all, farmers in the commercialization of milk.
“Milk, as a perishable product that is produced every day, must necessarily come out liquid or in fresh cheese and when we have road difficulties, we have problems because the product cannot be marketed and it begins to generate losses,” he commented.
In addition, excessive rainfall also affects the pastures, their development does not occur as it should and the feeding of the animals is affected, they are left without the forage they need for their normal diet and incidentally they are also affected by stress due to being in a very humid area, with a lot of mud, which also decreases their milk production.
“For the rest, to the extent that there are roads, the productive system develops normally, we have had problems in municipalities such as Colombia, Santa María, mainly due to problems of tertiary roads that have prevented the commercialization of milk”
The positive thing is that due to the rains, animal mortality is minimal and could even be reported to be nil, contrary to what is recorded in the long summers in the dry season, where Huila has a greater impact, “in winter, although there is a decrease in production, there is no mortality of animals”.