The Medellín Cartel was a highly organized Colombian drug cartel originating in the city of Medellín, Colombia that was founded by Pablo Escobar. The drug cartel operated throughout the 1970s and 1980s in Bolivia, Colombia, Panama, Central America, Peru, and the United States, as well as in Canada and Europe.
The Urban Counter-Terrorism Special Forces Group, otherwise known as AFEUR is an elite special operations unit within the Colombian Army, dedicated to performing counter-terrorism operations, HVT acquisition or elimination, and hostage rescue.
The National Police Corps is the national civilian police force of Spain. The CNP is mainly responsible for policing urban areas, whilst countryside policing is generally the responsibility of the Civil Guard, the Spanish gendarmerie. The CNP operates under the authority of Spain's Ministry of the Interior. They mostly handle criminal investigation, judicial, terrorism and immigration matters. The powers of the National Police Corps varies according to the autonomous communities, Ertzaintza in the Basque Country, Mossos d'Esquadra in Catalonia, and Policía Foral (Foruzaingoa) in Navarre are the primary police agencies while BESCAM in the Madrid region is more of a resources provider. In Andalusia, Aragon, Asturias, Galicia, and Valencia the National Police units are functionally acting directly under the orders of the autonomous communities to which they are attached.
The Mexican Cuerpo de Fuerzas Especiales is a special forces unit of the Mexican Army. Formerly the GAFE, the SF Corps has six battalions; one is the Fuerza especial de reaccion, a quick-response unit, and one is assigned to the Paratroopers Rifle Brigade; the motto of the SF Corps is Todo por México. Within the SF Corps, there are regular, intermediate, and veteran -service troops. The regular-service soldiers usually operate as light infantry. The intermediate-service soldiers usually are instructors. The veteran-service soldiers of the Fuerzas Especiales del Alto Mando handle Black-Ops missions. Also known as the COIFE, the Special Forces Corps of the Mexican Army is equivalent to the U.S. Army Special Forces.
The Federal Police of Brazil is a federal law enforcement agency of Brazil and one of its three national police forces. The other two are the Federal Highway Police and the Federal Railroad/Railway Police. From 1944 to 1967 it was called the Federal Public Safety Department.
The Search Bloc was the name of three different special operations units of the National Police of Colombia. They were originally organized with a focus on capturing or killing highly dangerous individuals or groups of individuals.
The Special Rapid Response Unit or SOBR, from 2002 to 2011 known as OMSN, is a spetsnaz unit of the National Guard of Russia.
Law enforcement in Bolivia is based on the 31,000-strong Cuerpo de Policía Nacional responsible for internal security and maintaining law and order. Unlike many South American countries, the Bolivian police force always has been accountable to the national government rather than to state or local officials. The 1950 Organic Law of Police and Carabiniers officially separated the police from the military. Frequently, however, the national police call upon the military for assistance in quelling riots and civil protests.
The National Police of Colombia is the national police force of Colombia. Although the National Police is not part of the Military Forces of Colombia, it constitutes along with them the "Public Force" and is also controlled by the Ministry of Defense. Unlike many nations which use a tiered system of law enforcement, the National Police is the only civilian police force in Colombia. The force's official functions are to protect the Colombian nation, enforce the law by constitutional mandate, maintain and guarantee the necessary conditions for public freedoms and rights and to ensure peaceful cohabitation among the population.
The Highway Police is the main body enforcing road regulations in Colombia to control land transportation and traffic, prevention of accidentality and crimes, similar to a highway patrol but with a nationwide area of operations.
Mobile Anti-Disturbances Squadron or Escuadrón Móvil Antidisturbios (ESMAD) in Spanish is a Colombian National Police Riot control unit specialized on preventing and/or controlling public disturbances and riots, as well as controlling large masses of people. This unit is under the command of the Operative Directorate of the Colombian National Police.
This is the history of the Colombian National Police, for further reading see history of Colombia.
The Federal Police, formerly known as the Policía Federal Preventiva, is the Mexican national police force. It is under the authority of the Department for Home Affairs. They are sometimes referred to by the slang term "Federales" or “Mexican feds” by some U.S. agents and media. Typically, agents of the Federal Police are heavily armed and wear dark blue, black, or gray combat fatigues.
The Polícia Aérea is the military police and ground combat special force of the Portuguese Air Force. The Air Police has as its main symbol the Blue Beret with the Emblem of the Air Force.
The Belgian Federal Police is the national police force of the Kingdom of Belgium. It carries out specialized and supra-local administrative and judicial police operations, and supports both local and federal police services and units. The Federal Police has approximately 12,300 officers and civilian personnel.
The Comando de Operações Táticas, mostly known by its acronym COT, was created after Brazilian parliament recommendations, in an attempt to have a specialized counter-terrorism force. It was placed in service in 1987.
The Law enforcement in Cape Verde is carried out by the Judicial police.
Jaime Ramírez Gómez was an official of the National Police of Colombia, who led a fight against the illegal drug trade in Colombia from the 1970s onwards.
