A prosecutor investigating organized crime in Paraguay was murdered this Tuesday (10) in Colombia, where he was spending his honeymoon.
The information was confirmed by Paraguayan President Mario Abdo Benítez, who condemned the crime in a post on Twitter.
“The cowardly murder of Prosecutor Marcelo Pecci in Colombia leaves the entire Paraguayan nation in mourning. We condemn this tragic event with the utmost vehemence and redouble our commitment to fight organized crime,” he wrote.
In 2017, Pecci led the socalled “Zootopia” operation, in which 500 kilos of cocaine were seized, dismantling the largest structure of the Brazilian criminal group Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) in Paraguay.
Pecci was also investigating a massacre last year in Pedro Juan Caballero that left four people dead including the daughter of the governor of Amambay province and two Brazilian students (Kaline Reinoso de Oliveira, 22, and Rhannye Jamilly Borges de Oliveira, 18). The authorities’ main suspicion is that the crime was committed because of an internal dispute in a Brazilian gang of drug dealers.
Drug trafficking at the border between Pedro Juan Caballero and Ponta Porã in Mato Grosso do Sul is controlled by people linked to the PCC.
The cowardly Asesinato of Colombia’s fiscal Marcelo Pecci mourns the entire Paraguayan nation.
We condemn in the strongest possible terms this tragic event and redouble our commitment to the fight against organized crime.
Our sincere condolences go to his family.Marito Abdo (@MaritoAbdo) May 10, 2022
Pregnant woman
Pecci died on the island of Barú, about 40 minutes by boat from the city of Cartagena de Indias.
Sources from the Paraguayan Embassy in Colombia told EFE that they have been informed of the incident, which is still under investigation, and that they are in contact with the Colombian National Police, who are conducting the investigation.
The director of the Colombian National Police, General Jorge Luis Vargas, told the press that the authorities are taking urgent and confidential measures which, according to him, “will help identify those responsible for this regrettable event”.
The Paraguayan police also sent a delegation to Colombia to join the investigation.
Pecci, 45, was a specialist prosecutor specializing in organized crime, drug trafficking, money laundering and terrorist financing.
He had just married Paraguayan journalist Claudia Aguilera on April 30 and was on their honeymoon.
The local press also reported that the prosecutor was part of an operation called “Ultranza” against drug trafficking and money laundering.
PICTURED: PROMOTION / PARAGUAY PROSECUTOR’S OFFICE
Aguilera told the Paraguayan press that they were approached by two men who arrived by boat on the beach of the hotel where they were staying and shot dead her husband. He said he received no death threats.
On Tuesday morning, the couple announced on Instagram that they are expecting a child.
Local media also reported that the officer was part of an operation called “Ultranza” against drug trafficking and money laundering and was involved in investigating an attack that took place during a concert in Paraguay in January.
He took part in the investigation into the murder of a regional governor’s daughter and in the case of former Brazilian soccer player Ronaldinho, who was arrested while attempting to enter Paraguay on a false passport in 2020.
President Mario Abdo Benítez said he had communicated with his Colombian counterpart, Ivan Duque, as well as the US government, offering them assistance in investigating the incident.