DIÁLOGO AMÈRICAS ILLUSTRATION
DIÁLOGO AMÈRICAS
Widely considered as one the most effective multinational strategies worldwide to combat drug trafficking, Colombia-led naval campaign Orion entered a new phase in 2025, with an expanded scope. Its investigative and operational centers now work continuously throughout the year to better support the periodic deployments.
Since its 2018 inception, the Orion campaign has consolidated itself as a cornerstone strategy in the fight against narcotrafficking and related crimes. While its operations and results have received numerous media coverage, these successes rely heavily on the often unseen work of its supportive centers. These centers research offenses; coordinate operations with the many national, regional and international participating agencies; and gather intelligence on transnational criminal organizations, among other crucial tasks.
For Colombian Navy Vice Adm. Orlando Enrique Grisales Franceschi, chief of Naval Operations, the success of Orion is due to information exchange among countries in the region on illicit activities at sea. “Each country acts with its own means and capabilities, and once it gets results, it prosecutes according to its own laws,” Vice Adm. Grisales told Diálogo Amèricas magazine. “That has allowed us to pool our capabilities to combat a common crime.”
Step-by-step construction
Orion wasn’t born overnight. In its seven years of operations, the multinational strategy incorporated academic, operational and intelligence components to confront drug trafficking and other related crimes with a holistic approach.
These components are the International Center for Research and Analysis against Maritime Drug Trafficking (CMCON), the International Operational Coordination Center (CCOPI), the Intelligence Fusion Center (CENFU), and the International Judicial Network (REJIO), which all operate from Colombia.
“Based on dominant intelligence, academic knowledge of the impact of criminal economies, coordination of interdiction measures and efforts to advance judicial proceedings against criminal organizations, [the Orion Multinational Strategy] has successfully impacted the criminal system,” Vice Adm. Grisales said.
Knowing the enemy
CENFU, the oldest of the centers, predates Orion. It was established in 2008 and is led by the Colombian Navy’s Naval Intelligence Headquarters. CENFU integrates all agencies that can contribute to the creation of intelligence alerts against transnational crimes that impact the security of nations. It has begun to apply new artificial intelligence technologies for information processing.
“When we evolved to operate 365 days a year, CENFU enabled communication channels with its partner institutions and strategic partners, and we are sharing information regardless of whether we are outside the operational window. During that period, we shared intelligence and media information on global scenarios,” Vice Adm. Grisales said. “Any event that we are aware of, that is in progress, that passes through our intelligence production or analysis, is delivered to the country that has the capacity to carry out the operation […]; we are not only delivering information every day to JIATF-South [Joint Interagency Task Force South], but to all those partners who are part of the multinational strategy.”
In 2015, the Colombian Navy established the CMCON at Almirante Padilla Naval Cadet School in Cartegena. It was created to study drug trafficking through research into areas such as international drug trafficking dynamics, the socioeconomic impact of maritime organized crime and technological advancements for combating it. This effort, a component of the Orion strategy since its inception, has helped to understand these dynamics, inform better judicial and enforcement strategies against drug trafficking, and provide insights for developing public policies and counter drug strategies, increasingly with the collaboration of allies.
“[For the CMCON], on the international stage, we have contacts with think tanks and research and analysis centers in the United Kingdom, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, France, the United States, Singapore, and Peru, to exceed regional capacity and begin to look at the phenomenon in a holistic international way,” Vice Adm. Grisales said. “As a result of the growth of the Orion Multinational Strategy, since September 2024 it has expanded its international relations with the Catholic University of Peru and the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in the United Kingdom.”
Alongside Colombian officers, international partners from Brazil, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, the Netherlands, Panama, Peru and the Dominican Republic are permanently stationed in Cartagena to help generate these academic products. “With them, we produce weekly reports, which basically compile results from around the world into a document that helps us all understand the dynamics or modus operandi [of criminal structures] in the Indian Ocean, the Pacific, the Atlantic, the Caribbean, and other areas,” Vice Adm. Grisales said.
The CMCON also produces a monthly and a semi-annual document with the support of universities and other associated research centers. For example, in Colombia, it works with the universities of Rosario, Los Andes, Cartagena, Nueva Granada Military Academy, the War College, and the Ministry of Defense’s Drug Observatory.
Newer centers
The Colombian Navy created CCOPI in 2023 at the Almirante Padilla Naval Cadet School to enhance interagency cooperation and operational response to transnational crime. Staffed by Colombian personnel and members from 132 entities across the 65 nations participating in the Orion strategy, the CCOPI transitioned in 2025 to year-round operation, expanding its communication channels with partner institutions. This marks a shift from its previous periodic operation during Orion’s 45-day windows, to continuous communication via secure cyber platforms and in-person coordination in Cartagena.
All these efforts are complemented by REJIO, also launched in 2023. The initiative is a 24/7 computer platform that enables prosecutors from 10 countries (soon to be joined by Portugal, Spain and England) to access the recorded operational results. This infrastructure allows for the exchange of information such as names, IDs and evidence imagery, which will empower prosecutors to better pursue domestic cases against transnational criminal structures.
“With REJIO, we have already begun to identify not only the structure that transports the boat but also the structure that receives contraband and automatically monetizes those resources, as well as the structure above those structures, at a tactical level, which is working to ensure that the business continues,” Vice Adm. Grisales said.
Without respite
Through the establishment and continuous refinement of its specialized centers — CMCON for research, CCOPI for operational coordination, CENFU for intelligence fusion, and REJIO for judicial networking — the Orion campaign is a comprehensive and evolving strategy to counter the complex challenges of transnational crime. This multifaceted approach, now operating with year-round intensity, underscores the commitment of participating nations to disrupt illicit activities and strengthen regional security.
“We will continue to sail together, without respite, until we defeat the threats, aware that to achieve this we must maintain the initiative, bravely facing the rough seas and hurricane-force winds that, in the form of obstacles, seek to diminish our momentum,” Admiral Juan Ricardo Rozo Obregón, commander of the Colombian Navy, told the press.
This article was originally published in Diálogo Amèricas, a professional digital military magazine published by the U.S. Southern Command.