Original article: Justicia confirma sentencia de 77 años de cárcel contra líder de organización criminal colombiana que operaba en campamento de Antofagasta

Court Upholds 77-Year Prison Sentence for Colombian Crime Leader Operating in Antofagasta

The Antofagasta Appeals Court has confirmed the sentencing from December 2025 against a Colombian criminal organization led by an individual known as ‘Satanás’ or ‘Zeus’, which had established itself within the Génesis II camp in northern Chile.

According to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the ruling handed down total sentences of 184 years for the ten members of this criminal structure, noting that the resolution was subject to several annulment appeals from the defendants’ attorneys.

However, the ruling remained intact in all aspects, «which constitutes significant support for the work carried out by the Public Prosecutor’s Office in a highly complex investigation,» officials stated.

Upon reviewing the defenses’ appeals, the appellate court upheld that the contested sentence was well-founded, «as it comprehensively and logically analyzed the abundant evidence presented by the Prosecutor’s Office, without infringing on due process rules or omitting relevant evidence.”

“Additionally, the judges dismissed claims concerning alleged legal errors or the non-application of mitigating factors for the convicted, concluding that none of the vices reported by the defenses were substantiated,” the prosecution added.

Following the court’s decision, Antofagasta’s Regional Prosecutor, Juan Castro Bekios, emphasized that the ruling «recognizes the strength of the investigative work carried out by the Prosecutor’s Office, which enabled a historic ruling condemning Zeus to 77 years in prison, with the rest of the organization receiving individual sentences ranging from 10 to 18 years for offenses such as criminal association, drug trafficking, homicides, assaults, threats, and violations of arms control laws.»

In this regard, the prosecutor underscored the fact that the court affirmed the conviction for criminal association, thereby dismissing claims that the actions were isolated or merely incidental relationships between the accused, as argued by the defenses.

“The appellate court stressed that the evidence provided established a common criminal project, sustained over time, with defined leadership and functional subordination among its members, fully satisfying the elements of the criminal association offense, which is what the Public Prosecutor’s Office has always maintained in this case, given the characteristics of the organization,” the prosecutor indicated.

The Facts and the Investigation

The investigation of this case was conducted by the SACFI unit of the Antofagasta Regional Prosecutor’s Office, along with specialized units of the Chilean Police Investigations, successfully dismantling a hierarchical criminal organization with territorial presence in various camps in Antofagasta, operating permanently and in a structured manner.

As presented during the oral trial, the organization was primarily engaged in the illicit drug trade, maintaining stable selling points and a structure with clearly defined roles among its members, who performed tasks including supply, dosing, marketing, armed guarding, and money collection.

Moreover, the group exercised violent territorial control within the Génesis II camp, using firearms, threats, and extreme violence to intimidate residents, displace people from their homes, and secure control of drug selling points. 

At the top of the group was Javier Valencia González, 40, alias Zeus or Satanás, a Colombian criminal who fled to Chile evading justice in his home country, where he faces a 33-year prison sentence that currently has an active extradition request against him.

The individual was arrested by Carabineros in May 2024, and a few weeks later, the rest of the gang was apprehended during a massive operation by the PDI within the Génesis II camp.

The Citizen