The Office of the Attorney General brought alias El Indio to justice for being considered as the ringleader of a residual group which committed terrorists actions and crimes against indigenous communities in Cauca

The evidence and the arguments presented by the Office of the Attorney General were decisive for a supervisory judge in Popayán (Cauca) to impose a prison sentence for Fernando Israel Méndez, alias El Indio, the alleged ringleader of the Residual Armed Group (Grupo Armado Residual GAOr) Dagoberto Ramos Ortiz which commits crimes in Cauca.

The investigations show that alias El Indio would be responsible for the kidnapping and subsequent murder of the Colombian and Argentinian citizen, Mónica Berenice Blanco Sossa, which took place on May 23, 2018 in the rural area of Guasano, Corinto (Cauca). The victim was the tourist guide of a group of Israeli citizens who were participating in a tour known as the ‘Cannabis Tours’.

Likewise, he is accused of committing motorcycle bomb attacks, one of them against the police station of Padilla (Cauca) in August 2018 causing the death of a police officer and injuring several officers and another one, against the indigenous reservation Huellas, in the countryside division of Nilo de Caloto (Cauca). Likewise, he would be the mastermind of other explosive attacks against the public force and the civilian population between 2018 and 2020.