The Search Bloc was a special operations unit of the Colombian National Police with the objective of capturing or killing drug lords and dismantling their empires.
The Search Bloc was formed in 1989 by Colonel Horacio Carrillo who created a force of highly trained policemen impervious to corruption. The Search Bloc were successfull in killing Medellín cartel kingpins José Rodríguez Gacha and Gustavo Gaviria in 1989 and 1991 respectively, and arrested Jorge Luis and Fabio Ochoa Vásquez in 1990.
As part of Medellín cartel leader Pablo Escobar's surrender agreement, the Search Bloc was disbanded in 1991, and Carrillo was transferred to Spain. After Escobar's escape from prison following the La Catedral, President César Gaviria brought the Search Bloc back to life under Colonel Augusto Pinzon. After suffering heavy causalities during the war with Escobar, Colonel Carrillo replaced Pinzon as the head of Search Bloc. With assistance from the Americans, Carrillo nearly destroyed the Prisco gang, a gang of enforcers allied to Escobar, and shut down several of Escobar's labs. Escobar used Carrillo brutality to wage information warfare; spreading propaganda calling for the disbandment of the Search Bloc.
Search Bloc troops
However, Escobar killed Carrillo after luring him with a trap. With no one willing to succeed Carrillo in the most dangerous position in Colombia, President Gaviria forced CNP Colonel Hugo Martinez to take up the job. Martinez' methodical approach yielded slow progress, forcing other drug traffickers to form the Los Pepes paramilitary organization, which had a more boots-on-the-ground approach and bypassed Colombian bureaucracy. Unwittingly to the Search Bloc, DEA agent Javier Peña began co-operating with the Los Pepes.
The Search Bloc nonetheless succeeded in killing Pablo Escobar on 2 December 1993. After Escobar's death, the Search Bloc turned its attention to the Cali cartel, which was the primary financier of the Los Pepes. Martinez arrested Cali cartel godfather Gilberto Rodríguez Orejuela in 1994, but the Cali cartel, which had powerful connections in the government, spread falsified documents alleging that Martinez worked together with the Cali cartel, forcing the Colonel to resign. Martinez was succeeded by General Rosso José Serrano, who arrested the other three Cali cartel leaders Miguel Rodríguez Orejuela, José Santacruz Londoño and Hélmer Herrera by 1995, dismantling the cartel forever.
Learning from the Search Bloc's successful dismantling of the two largest Colombian cartels of its time, the remaining cartels such as the Norte del Valle cartel completely went underground.
Commanders[]
- Colonel Horacio Carrillo (1989–1991, 1992)
- Colonel Augusto Pinzon (1992)
- Colonel Hugo Martinez (1992–1994)
- Brigadier General Rosso José Serrano (1994–1995)