The source of this new information is data contained in a computer seized from a captured AUC administrator, and it allegedly shows the AUC is  taking over private businesses, including those that perform essential services to the public, such as transportation and refuse collection.

The so-called "demobilisation" of the AUC, and its  assimilation into  mainstream Colombian society, has been questioned by some, who charge that the organisation is seeking to gain political and economic power, and has not abandoned its criminal activities, including narcotics trafficking.

Inasmuch as many Colombian companies maintain accounts in North America and in Western Europe, in connection with the purchase of manufactured goods, compliance officers in those areas might now want to review the documentation in their client files, to insure that the "owners" are not fronts for the AUC, and that AUC members are not listed as officers and directors.

Colombian compliance officers should already be carefully reviewing their corporate client records, to identify customers who may be AUC-owned.