The Colombian authorities have reported this Friday the arrest of the suspects in the murder of the Paraguayan anti-drug prosecutor Marcelo Pecci, gunned down on a Colombian Caribbean beach three weeks ago during his honeymoon.
The president of Colombia, Iván Duque, has given the news from the United States, where he is visiting, while his counterpart from Paraguay, Mario Abdo Benítez, thanked the support of Colombian organizations on Twitter.
Pecci was murdered on May 10 on the island of Barú, near Cartagena, while he was enjoying his honeymoon with his wife, Paraguayan journalist Claudia Aguilera, whom he had married in Asunción on April 30 and was expecting a child.
The 45-year-old prosecutor was investigating cases of drug trafficking and organized crime. His murder, committed by a hitman who arrived on a jet ski at the beach of the Decameron hotel where the couple was staying, shocked Paraguayan society.
“In a shared work operation by the Colombian National Police, the Colombian Attorney General’s Office, and also with the collaboration of the Paraguayan authorities, we have captured all those presumed involved, including the perpetrator, of the murder. of Marcelo Pecci, Paraguayan prosecutor,” Duque said in a video statement.
From the Joint Base Andrews, on the outskirts of Washington, the Colombian president has expressed his solidarity with the prosecutor’s family and with the Paraguayan people, and has congratulated the speed of action of the authorities “to show the world that nobody is for above the law.”
“This is an intelligence operation, with meticulous work that has allowed us to reach this criminal structure, and these criminals will be put at the disposal of a guarantee control judge,” he assured. “The evidence that is available is important, robust,” she added, before leaving for Reno, Nevada, to a meeting of US mayors.
“We appreciate the commitment of the Colombian State agencies,” the Paraguayan president tweeted for his part. “The investigation into the tragic death of prosecutor Marcelo Pecci, in which police and prosecutors from both countries work cooperatively seeking justice, is moving forward with the capture of the suspects in his death,” said Abdo Benítez.
Colombia’s attorney general, Francisco Barbosa, has reported on Twitter five arrests linked to the Pecci case. “Through two search and search procedures carried out by the technical investigative body of the prosecutor’s office and the national police, five people have been arrested in the city of Medellin for their alleged participation in the murder of Mr. Marcelo Pecci,” it states in a video.
Four of those arrested are of Colombian nationality and one is Venezuelan, according to Colombian media reports.
From Asunción, the Paraguayan Interior Minister, Federico González, assures that the investigators “are very close to taking the next step”, given the possibility of identifying the intellectual authors of the crime.
Pecci, specialized in organized crime, drug trafficking, money laundering and financing of terrorism, had investigated the criminal groups of Brazilian origin Primeiro Comando Capital (PCC) and Comando Vermelho (CV), as well as Lebanese money launderers from the Triple Border with Brazil and Argentina.
He was also in charge of high-profile cases, such as the 2005 kidnapping and murder of Cecilia Cubas, daughter of former Paraguayan President Raúl Cubas (1998-1999), and the 2020 prosecution of retired Brazilian soccer star Ronaldinho, arrested in Asunción for falsifying a Paraguayan passport.
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