Search Bloc

The Search Bloc (Bloque de Búsqueda) was the name of several Special Operations units of the National Police of Colombia (Policía Nacional de Colombia).

History
The original Search Bloc was created in 1992 by the President, Cesar Gaviria. Search Bloc officers were assembled with the sole objective of the apprehension of drug lord Pablo Escobar and his associates. Its original commander was Colonel Hugo Martinez.

The members of Search Bloc received training from the U.S. Army's Special Forces and were specially selected for being impervious to police corruption from the drug cartels. Throughout its mission, Search Bloc faced many obstacles such as a spy within the group, allegations of collaboration with the anti-Escobar vigilante groups such as Los Pepes, which would have included vigilantism within Search Bloc pertaining to suspicious deaths of Escobar's subordinates.

Escobar was killed on December 2, 1993 in a shootout with members of Search Bloc.

After dismantling the Medellin Cartel, the Search Bloc was transferred to Cali to find and shut down the structure of the Cali Cartel.

Search Bloc was revived in 2004 to root out cocaine and heroin traffickers in the southwest of Colombia. The mission of the new Search Bloc was to take apart the Norte del Valle cartel and arrest its leader, Diego León Montoya Sánchez.

In 2007 the Colombian government again ordered the creation of a new Search Bloc against the Black Eagles and classified this organization as a gang of former paramilitaries.