A truck carrying crude crosses a bridge over the Manacacias River in Puerto Gaitan, Colombia.

A truck carrying crude crosses a bridge over the Manacacias River in Puerto Gaitan, Colombia.

Photographer: Fernando Vergara/AP Photo

Extortion Gangs Overrun Colombia’s Biggest Oil-Producing Region

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Jaime Cruz hadn’t heard from Colombia’s extortion gangs for more than a decade until the palm-oil farmer checked his phone one day in September 2023 and got a terrible shock.