Posted on 6/4/2022 11:05 AM
(Image credit: Daniel DUARTE/AFP)
Colombian President Iván Duque announced on Friday the arrest of “all those involved” in the death of Paraguayan prosecutor Marcelo Pecci known for his fight against organized crime which took place on May 10 while on a honeymoon in the country. The announcement was made via video from Washington, where Duque is on a business trip.
“In a joint operation between the Colombian National Police, the Attorney General’s Office and the Paraguayan authorities, we have arrested all suspects, including the perpetrator of the murder of Prosecutor Marcelo Pecci,” Duque said. “It was an intelligence operation, meticulous work that enabled us to get hold of this criminal structure.”
Colombian Attorney General Francisco Barbosa said on Twitter that five people were arrested yesterday in Medellín as part of the investigation into Pecci’s murder. In his opinion, the detainees will be made available to the judiciary.
According to the newspaper El Tiempo, those arrested are three Colombians and two Venezuelans, one accused of shooting Pecci three times and the other of driving the jet ski that took them to the island of Baru in the arrived near Cartagena de Indias. According to investigations, the five met in Envigado and Medellín at the end of April to plan the crime ordered in Paraguay.
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Apparently the detainees belong to a criminal organization in Antioquia and investigators are trying to find out whether they have ties to the Oficina group or the Gulf clan. Two of the suspects a mother and son were staying at the same hotel as Pecci and reportedly warned the mercenaries about the moment he was on the beach.
Pecci, 45, married journalist Claudia Aguilera on April 30. He had announced on Instagram that they would become parents shortly before the attack. The best wedding gift is life, which brings you closer to the most beautiful token of love,” the message reads.
The murder moved Paraguayan society. Yesterday, Duque stressed that there was “important and solid evidence” to charge the suspects and that anyone involved in the crime “will get what they deserve”.
LOSS
Colombian National Police Director General Jorge Luis Vargas said Pecci’s death was “a blow to the global fight against international terrorism and drug trafficking”.
Pecci, who specializes in organized crime, drug trafficking, money laundering and terrorist financing, had investigated the First Capital Command (PCC) with a presence in Paraguay and the Red Command (CV), as well as Lebanese involved in money laundering in triple border with Brazil and Argentina. Three of them were sentenced to be extradited to the US on charges of injecting capital into the Shia armed movement Hezbollah.
In his country, he took part in the “A Ultranza PY” investigation into drug trafficking from Paraguay to Europe.
RONALDINHO
He has also been responsible for high media coverage cases such as the 2005 kidnapping and murder of Cecilia Cubas, daughter of former Paraguayan President Raúl Cubas (19981999) and the 2020 indictment of Brazilian football star Ronaldinho Gaucho, imprisoned in Asunción for forging a Paraguayan passport.
Pecci’s AntiDrug Unit was formed in 2007 to investigate drugrelated crimes. He was a member of the IberoAmerican Network of AntiDrug Prosecutors, which includes prosecutors from 20 countries.
Paraguayan President Mario Abdo Benítez thanked the Duque government for arresting the suspects. “We appreciate the commitment of the Colombian state organs,” Abdo wrote on Twitter. “The investigation into the tragic death of Marcelo Pecci, in which police officers and prosecutors from both countries are working together, is progressing with the arrest of those suspected in his death.” (For international agencies)
The information comes from the newspaper. The state of Sao Paulo.