4 local journalists threatened by Colombia’s largest drug-trafficking group

Bogotá, August 4, 2026—Colombian authorities must swiftly investigate threats made by an illegal armed group against regional journalists, bring those responsible to justice, and guarantee the safety of the reporters, said the Committee to Protect Journalists on Tuesday.

On July 31, four journalists in the northern city of Apartadó were threatened by members of the Gaitanista Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, alias Gulf Clan, the country’s largest illegal drug-trafficking organization. The threats against the journalists came following their reports on allegations of misconduct by the head of Apartadó’s transportation department, Óscar Angulo, according to the Bogotá-based Foundation for Press Freedom (FLIP).

Journalist Cristian Salas of the independent news site Noticias El Boom and Yeison Rojas of the TV news program TeleAntioquia Noticias and Darien TV have publicly come forward about receiving the threats. Rojas told CPJ that the two other threatened journalists, who report for the news site Voces de Urabá on Facebook, did not want their names published. 

In phone calls from the armed group, the journalists were ordered to stop publishing stories about Angulo or face unspecified consequences. 

“Colombia has already recorded two killings this year: those of Cristian Herrera and Mateo Pérez Rueda,” says CPJ Latin America program coordinator, Cristina Zahar, in São Paulo. “The fact that four other local journalists are under threat is alarming and implies that the authorities are unable to stop the violence and provide adequate protection for media workers in the country.”

Rojas told CPJ that the same armed group threatened to kill him and his family four months ago for his reporting on misconduct by city officials, prompting him to temporarily leave Apartadó for his safety. Apartadó is located in Antioquia department which, according to FLIP, is the most dangerous region of Colombia for journalists, with 45 cases of threats against reporters registered between January 1 and August 1, 2026.

There was no immediate reply to CPJ’s messages seeking comment from Angulo. Alejandro Galarza, a spokesman for the Attorney General’s office in Bogotá, said that the threats are under investigation.