I suppose it's local to Spain, but everyone else understands it. You can colocar things (colocar el cuadro en la pared) but when people is involved it's somehow figurative (me colocaron de camarero en el hotel -I was given that job and not placed like a flowerpot-; me colocó en aprietos con sus mentiras).
Just by taking a look to the uses of its opposite, descolocar: No funciona porque el conector está descolocado -in the wrong slot, or loose- ; su reacción me descolocó -it baffled me-)
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