A big drop in cattle rustling in Colombia appears to be related to the increasingly local criminal networks involved in this illicit market, but authorities are far from eradicating it completely.
Cases of cattle rustling fell by 71% between 2017 and 2023 in Colombia, according to data from the National Police. The number of heads of cattle stolen during those years dropped from 5,135 in 2017 to 1,484 by last year, a significant decrease in a crime that hits the country’s livestock guild hard.
The environmental protection branch of the Colombian police (Dirección de Carabineros y Protección Ambiental) has identified two types of cattle rustling: carneo, which is for meat, and arreo, for herding. Carneo is when cattle are killed and cut up on the spot, while arreo refers to the process of removing animals from farms to process them into beef in clandestine slaughterhouses, an official from the environmental protection branch, who asked not to be named due to police protocols, told InSight Crime.
Meta, Casanare, Cundinamarca, Cesar, and Boyacá were the departments most affected by this criminal economy between 2017 and 2023. All of those zones have a long history of cattle-raising, which has attracted the attention of opportunistic criminal groups.
However, in contrast to other crimes, the networks behind cattle rustling in Colombia are small, local structures. These groups find where the cattle are kept and then send teams of between eight and 15 armed people to steal them and move them to farms or slaughterhouses, according to retired General Fernando Murillo, a security consultant for the Colombian Federation of Cattle Ranchers (Federación Colombiana de Ganaderos – Fedegán).
“It is a common criminal phenomenon,” said Murillo. “Normally organized crime groups do not get involved with this criminal modality. They are into drug trafficking, illegal mining and smuggling,” he said.
While large criminal groups are not directly involved in cattle rustling, they can be connected to this crime via the territorial control they exercise. They may use their influence to extort small groups engaged in the crime for permission to operate.
However, while cattle rustling cases may be dropping, other crimes such as kidnapping and extortion are causing concern among those in the livestock sector, as they have been increasing consistently over the last five years.
InSight Crime Analysis
Police operations against cattle rustling networks appear to have had an important, positive impact on crime. However, there is also significant underreporting, as people tend not to denounce these crimes.
Police action has focused on prevention by creating technological tools, such as ¡ADenunciar!, a virtual resource promoted to facilitate the reporting of such crimes by cattle ranchers. Similarly, the police has strengthened controls on the legal ownership of livestock, as well as its investigation and intelligence work in this sector.
“There has been an analysis from the investigative side that allows us to establish that [the effect] on criminal organizations that have been subject to control in the last two years has had a positive impact on the reduction of crime,” said the police official.
In October 2023, for example, authorities captured 17 people accused of being part of a cattle rustling network operating in Tolima, Cundinamarca, Quindío, Caquetá, and Valle del Cauca.
“It was blow that really put an end to this crime in those areas,” the police officer added.
Despite the fact that such operations have reduced crime, continued underreporting influences the number of official complaints.
“There is a lack of citizen culture to report, which doesn’t help law enforcement to be more effective,” said Murillo, the security consultant. A lack of confidence in authorities and difficulties in accessing technology are some of the main reasons why victims don’t report cattle rustling.
“The procedures are very cumbersome, not all citizens know how to handle technology, and the livestock guild is comprised mostly of people who are over 50 years old, countryfolk without the same technological capacity and knowledge,” said Murillo.
