In the operation, 29 search warrants that allowed to dismantle criminal organizations and combat phenomena such as micro-trafficking, murders, theft, and domestic violence, among others were carried out.
Among the strategic objectives defined by the Attorney General, Francisco Barbosa Delgado, it was established, as a priority, to develop investigative and judicial actions with a territorial approach. Thus, last week, operation ‘Piedad’ was carried out. This is a regional intervention to counteract different criminal phenomena in the Departments which are part of the Caribbean Coast: La Guajira, Cesar, Atlántico, Magdalena and Bolívar.
In the Operation coordinated by the Delegate Director on Public Safety, 29 search warrants were carried out in which the Technical Investigative Corps (Cuerpo Técnico de Investigación CTI) arrested 48 people, 42 of them by virtue of a court order and the remaining 6 were arrested in flagrante delicto.
The arrested people were allegedly involved in crimes such as drug trafficking (10), theft (1), murder (5), femicide (1), sexual offenses (11) and domestic violence (14), among others.
The conclusive results were obtained in:
Bolivar
The main operation was carried out in Cartagena, where 36 arrests were carried out as a result of 25 raids. In that city, the locality 2, the Olaya Herrera neighborhood, was controlled and a criminal network engaged in micro-trafficking, that used hit men and committed car theft received a hard blow. In the same area, 9 people who apparently sold drugs were arrested.
Operations also were carried out in neighborhoods El Pozón, La María, La Candelaria, Boston and Chiquinquirá, where public safety was affected due to micro-trafficking and theft activities.
Likewise, the criminal structure La Esperanza was dismantled. This organization was involved in the commission of robberies in which thieves follow the victim out of the bank and robberies in commercial establishments.
As it was established, they committed the activities in the banking area of Cartagena Mall plaza, La Bomba del Amparo and the industrial area of Mamonal. Among the alleged members of the gang, there was a policeman in active duty who was wanted for the crime of murder.
On the other hand, with these legal actions the risk of femicide was reduced after achieving the arrest of 12 people for domestic violence, whose cases were considered as extreme risk for the victims.
“We have managed to seep into the corruption networks in the public administration in Cartagena by arresting a former official of the Department of Traffic in Bolivar who apparently modified the database of the Ministry of Transport”, said Prosecutor Francisco Barbosa referring to another of the important results obtained in the intervention.
As established in this case, the technician allegedly made a change of modality of contract service for 58 vehicles, by fraudulently handling the information. In this case, the accused will be prosecuted for crimes against the public administration.
“This circumstance makes the Office of the Attorney General to increase its action against corruption in the transit offices. We are watching them and will prosecute them. We are not going to allow violations of the citizens’ fundamental rights”, said the prosecutor.
La Guajira
Among the arrested people there is a patrol officer, who will be prosecuted for the commission of abusive sexual assault with a minor under 14 years of age. According to the investigations, the officer took advantage of his condition to assault foreign minors.
Atlántico
A lieutenant will be brought before the supervisory judge for the alleged commission of aggravated murder offenses. He allegedly caused the death of a person after shooting several times inside a house. It is believed that the officer carried out a chase, but the victim was not related to the fact.
In these departments, as well as in Magdalena and Cesar, arrests and prosecutions are related to sexual offenses, domestic violence, and drug trafficking.
This result was achieved in the development of the strategy drew up last December by the Attorney General and his itinerant staff when they visited the coastal cities of the Colombian Caribbean analyzing the criminal dynamics of the region.
The Office of the Attorney General makes this information public for reasons of general interest.
The Office of the Attorney General produces results.
The information contained in this press release corresponds to the narration of the objective news provided by the officials in charge of carrying out the criminal investigations within the Office of the Attorney General. By the time this communication is disclosed, the legal status of the people mentioned is still pending to be resolved by the competent judicial authority, always under the presumption of innocence contemplated by Article 29 of the Political Constitution and Article 7 of Law 906 of 2004.