On Thursday, August 21, 2025, near the town of Los Toros, in the border area between the Amalfi and Anorí regions of Antioquia Department in northwestern Colombia, smugglers shot down a Lockheed Martin/Sikorsky UH-60L Black Hawk police helicopter using an FPV-class strike drone during an anti-narcotics operation. Twelve officers were killed, and four others were injured.
Graphics: Colombian National Police
A multirole helicopter of the Colombian National Police (Policía Nacional de Colombia) was supporting operations to eradicate coca plantations controlled by the Gulf Clan drug cartel (Clan del Golfo). While approaching for landing, the rotorcraft was attacked by an FPV drone carrying an explosive charge. The explosion caused the Black Hawk to crash and be completely destroyed.
Of the 16 National Police officers on board the UH-60L, twelve were killed instantly, and four others were injured. This was the first successful drone attack on a police helicopter, although since 2024 smugglers have carried out more than 300 such attacks on law enforcement officers, resulting in dozens of deaths.
Queridos paisanos, esta es la paz total de Petro. En zona rural de Amalfi derribaron un helicóptero de la @PoliciaColombia que al parecer estaba brindando seguridad a uniformados en labores de erradicación manual a cultivos de coca. Los policías fueron atacados por un drone.
Es… pic.twitter.com/PnI0XhA2QQ— Andrés Julián (@AndresJRendonC) August 21, 2025
A few hours after the helicopter attack, a car bomb exploded near a military base in Cali, in the western part of the country, killing six people and injuring 71. In total, across both attacks, the shootdown of the helicopter and the car bomb explosion, 18 people were killed and 75 injured.
Ranks and names of the fallen officers:
Colombian Defense Minister Pedro Arnulfo Sánchez accused the 36th Front of the Central General Staff (Estado Mayor Central), a faction made up of remnants of the outlawed guerrilla group Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia – Ejército del Pueblo, FARC-EP), of carrying out the terrorist attack.
Until the shootdown, the police air service SAPOL (Servicio Aéreo de Policía) operated 9 UH-60L and 28 UH-60A+ helicopters, the deliveries of the latter from U.S. donations having been completed on October 15, 2024 (UH-60A+ Black Hawk for Colombian Police Delivered in Full). In addition, Black Hawks are also used by the country’s armed forces: 53 UH-60L and 7 S-70i (the latter produced at PZL Mielec in Poland) with the Army, and 14 UH-60L plus 24 AH-60L Arpía III/IV attack helicopters with the Air Force. In total, this amounts to 135 helicopters (two of which have been lost in military service).
Hoy la familia policial está de luto. Honor eterno a quienes ofrendaron su vida. #HeroesEnLaEternidad pic.twitter.com/QkGpvF8Ou8
— Policía de Colombia (@PoliciaColombia) August 22, 2025