Paraguayan prosecutor Marcelo Pecci, 45, known for fighting organized crime, drug trafficking and money laundering murdered while on honeymoon in Colombia, on Tuesday (10). The prosecutor was a wellrecognized figure in Paraguay, particularly for his astute performance in cases involving organized crime and the PCC criminal group. He also acted in other cases, such as the arrest of former Brazilian player Ronaldinho Gaúcho for carrying a forged document.
Marcelo Pecci, a target of crime, was well protected in Paraguay. He had been married ten days and was spending his honeymoon on a private beach attached to a hotel on the island of Barú in Colombia. In order to remain unnoticed, he avoided informing the Colombian authorities of his whereabouts. However, he was spotted by bandits who arrived on a watercraft and shot the prosecutor three times.
His wife, journalist Claudia Aguilera, announced on the same day that she was expecting a baby. The death of the promoter was mourned by several authorities in South America. Paraguayan President Mario Abdo Benitez called the shooting “a cowardly murder”.
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Pecci was involved in investigations into the PCC and led Operation Zootopia, which shook the fabric of Brazil’s largest criminal group in Paraguay by seizing 500 kilos of cocaine in 2017.
Prosecutors were also investigating a massacre that took place in Pedro Juan Caballero last year and ended in the deaths of four people, including the governor’s daughter from Amambay province. Authorities were investigating whether the killings were a result of a power struggle. The town, which borders Ponta Porã in Mato Grosso do Sul, has become a focus of persistent drug traffickingrelated crime.
He also worked in the case of Brazilian journalist Leonardo Veras, who was murdered by gunmen in Ponta Porã in 2020.