Colombia’s emerald trade, known for its exceptional gems and persistent violence, has faced another blow to its reputation with the professional assassination of a leading dealer.
The killing has sparked speculation over which criminal powers beyond the jewel business could be at work, and what they may gain from the hit.
Juan Sebastian Aguilar, 58, was shot in the chest by a proficient sniper who reportedly spent days lying in wait in the mountains above his target’s upscale home in northern Bogotá. The marksman, according to media reports, escaped on horseback into the lush mountains behind the housing complex, ending an almost cinematic killing. His exit also complicated police efforts to track his movements.
Aguilar’s death at first glance appeared to be a simple settling of scores — revenge for past betrayals — between rival gem traders. But the sophistication of the hit has since led observers to speculate that the killing could be connected to broader criminal groups like drug trafficking and money laundering syndicates. Others believe he may have been eliminated to ease the way for killing another emerald trader.
“This is a settling of scores, but not among the emerald traders, it’s among the drug traffickers,” Petrit Baquero, who authored “The New Green War” (La Nueva Guerra Verde), a book about ties between Colombia’s emerald barons and organized crime, told InSight Crime.
Aguilar had become a powerful individual with significant security around him, he added. “Whoever decided to target him had people trained in the exercise of violence and used war weapons – not just a hitman on a motorcycle. It was something entirely professionalized and undoubtedly an attack that must have been worth a lot of money,” said Baquero.
This is not the first time Aguilar had been targeted. He narrowly survived an attempt on his life last year, and, according to El Tiempo, investigators are exploring whether it could be the same killer. And while almost certainly linked to the emerald business, sources shrug off the idea of a new round of tit-for-tat killings — an extension of what has been called the Green War — and believe that more criminal elements are at play.
The Green War
Though Colombia’s emerald industry dates back over 500 years to the time of the Spanish Conquest, the modern-day business has a murky history. It is marred by violence and conflict, particularly during the Green Wars of the 1980s, during which up to 6,000 people were killed in clashes between rival mining clans and right-wing paramilitary groups fighting for control over the lucrative mining regions in Boyacá, about 150 kilometers from Bogotá.
The recently deceased Aguilar, also known as “Pedro Alguilar” or “Pedro Pechuga,” came from that era. He began his emerald career as bodyguard and then head of security for so-called “Emerald Czar” Victor Carranza, who, in the 1980s, successfully fought against notorious drug lords Pablo Escobar and Jose Rodriguez Gacha for control of the gem industry.
Prior to his death from cancer in April 2013, Carranza was the most powerful figure in Colombia’s emerald business.
The financial spoils are not just access to the $150 million in annual emerald exports, but ample opportunities for money laundering. The exchange of stones for cash often takes place on Bogotá’s streets, making them ripe for leaking dirty money into the system.
Baquero reckons the score against Aguilar may date back to the post-Carranza days and the push for power from rival emerald barons whose business interests shifted into the drug trade and money laundering.
“These are the aftershocks,” he said. “Maybe Aguilar was not a drug trafficker, but there are links and power relations with people involved in that environment, and his assassination may be due to that.”
Stubborn Frontmen?
One theory is that former members of the so-called Junta Directiva, or Board of Directors, found that frontmen — among them possibly Aguilar — were unwilling to return properties and businesses held for them.
This shadowy organization once held significant influence in Colombia’s criminal underworld, according to sources and media reports. Allegedly headed by Julio Lozano Pirateque, The Board’s associates operated behind the scenes, controlling networks that straddled illicit operations and legitimate businesses, such as foreign exchange houses and the emerald trade, to launder money.
“The well-established connections between emerald traders and drug trafficking highlight how organized crime is intertwined with both legal and illegal economies, nationally and internationally,” Andres Preciado, director of Colombian think tank Fundación Ideas para la Paz, told InSight Crime.
Enemies of Hernando Sànchez
Another theory is that Horacio Triana, an emerald dealer and Carranza’s historical rival who is serving time in a US prison on drug-related charges, may have wanted Aguilar out of the way.
Triana’s beef with Aguilar likely stems from the dead man’s close association and friendship with Hernando Sànchez, heir to Carranza’s emerald empire. Sánchez inherited control of Colombia’s biggest and most productive mining area — the Santa Rosa — when Carranza died. That put him, and thus, Aguilar, in the business crossfire of rival emerald barrons and traffickers, like Triana, as well as another key player, Pedro Rincon Castillo, known as “Pedro Orejas.”
Sánchez could be at the center of this deadly puzzle, says Baquero. Still a big player in the emerald world, he has survived several assassination attempts, receiving 11 shots in an exclusive Bogotá clothing store in 2012. His immense power, garnered after Carranza’s death, made him an obvious target, but he also faced accusations — notably from Triana — that he owed money for the purchase of shares in the Cunas Mine, which produces a significant amount of gems for Santa Rosa.
Aguilar’s “associates must be very scared and protecting themselves,” said Baquero.
Aligned with Triana in the same emerald faction, Pedro Orejas may have his own motivation for wanting Aguilar out of the picture — again, due to conflict with Sánchez over control of the mines but also over a potential lingering suspicion he could have been involved in his son’s death in 2013.
Although there is no direct evidence, some allege Triana paid a group of assassins for the hit on Sánchez in 2012. Ousting Aguilar, who ran the heavily armed security company, Seguridad Oriental Ltda., that protected Sánchez and other local and international mine owners would leave Sánchez more vulnerable to another attempt on his life.
Sánchez was also fingered by Triana and Pedro Orejas for being a frontman for Lozano, who now resides in Dubai.
Or Could it Be The AGC?
There is yet another possible perpetrator, the Gaitanist Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (Autodefensas Gaitanistas de Colombia – AGC). Although there are no direct links between Aguilar and the AGC (also known as the Clan del Golfo), its former leader, Dario Antonio Úsuga, alias “Otoniel,” who is now in US custody, allegedly ordered hits on Sánchez and had long coveted a piece of the emerald trade in Boyacá. Some media reports say the AGC and Lozano have worked together before.
Aguilar’s assassination would send a powerful message to Sánchez, whose elimination is important to realize AGC ambitions. But the group, known for getting rid of rivals in pretty sophisticated ways, may have worked with Triana and Pedro Orejas to take out Aguilar in return for a footing in the mining business.
“What’s clear is that Aguilar was on a kill list for some time, it was a homicide already paid for,” said Preciado.
But as investigators continue to grapple with the latest bloodshed in Colombia’s emerald trade, there is only one certainty, and that is that the violence — and sophistication of the hit that claimed Aguilar’s life — will continue. And that will leave more than a few worried.
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