Colombia’s national prison agency, Inpec, has released troubling data showing that extortion calls are being placed from behind bars at an alarming rate—despite a strict ban on cellphones in prison cells. According to a report obtained in response to a public records request filed by congressman José Octavio Cardona León, telecom companies identified 14,097 calls originating from Inpec-run facilities since January 2025, when authorities began cross-referencing phone records with data from Gaula, Colombia’s specialized anti-extortion and anti-kidnapping police and military unit.
That figure, measured through mid-July of this year, works out to roughly 25 suspicious calls a day, or just over one per hour. The report is based on a broader pool of 73,670 records flagged by security forces, of which Inpec has formally asked mobile carriers to block 9,967 tied directly to extortion attempts. In total, the agency has requested 14,668 blocks—7,951 targeting specific devices (IMEI numbers) and 6,737 targeting SIM cards or phone lines.
Inpec cautions that these numbers likely understate the true scale of the problem, since they rely solely on reported complaints rather than comprehensive surveillance. The underreporting has drawn concern from President Abelardo De La Espriella’s administration, which has ordered Inpec director Col. Daniel Gutiérrez to tighten controls. Security lawyer Sindy Franco notes that blocking lines is just one of several tools Colombia uses to fight extortion orchestrated from inside its prisons.
Read the full investigation at El Tiempo.
Source: Dura radiografía del Inpec revela que cada hora se realiza una llamada extorsiva desde cárceles de Colombia (eltiempo.com). English version produced with AI assistance.
Image: Lala Photography at JoLi Studios Colchester, BY-SA 2.0 (via Openverse).