• The Office of the Attorney General’s hypothesis that criminal organizations such as the ELN were found during the protests was confirmed.
  • Alias ​​Jacobo, belonging to Farc dissent ‘Dagoberto Ramos’, was deprived of his liberty; and Lerma and his brother, identified as members of the ELN’s urban networks, were also sent to jail.

The Attorney General, Francisco Barbosa Delgado, announced in Cali (Valle del Cauca) two important investigative results that confirm the participation of organized crime structures in the planning and execution of acts of vandalism in this city and municipalities of the metropolitan area.

“The hypothesis of the presence of criminal organizations linked to acts of violence, and the use of the peaceful protest of the citizens of this capital of Valle del Cauca, was confirmed,” said the Attorney General in his statement.

  • A hard blow against the urban network ‘Dagoberto Ramos’

In a joint action of the Office of the Attorney General and the National Police Gaula, Anderson Johan Maldonado Cáceres, alias Jacobo, was arrested and prosecuted. He was the leader of the Farc dissident structure ‘Dagoberto Ramos’. The procedure was carried out in the La Unión neighborhood, in the eastern area of Cali.

According to the evidence, this man would be responsible for several terrorist actions that occurred during the last two months and for sponsoring acts of violence against the infrastructure of the main city of Valle del Cauca and the public force during the protests. “Likewise, he played a relevant role in all the criminal actions that took place in this city during the riots,” revealed the Attorney General.

The technical evidence recently collected indicates that he was the person in charge of transporting explosive devices to the places where outrages took place near some universities and in a sector known as ‘Puerto Rellena’.

Alias ​​Jacobo is considered the person who destructed and burned down an ATM of a bank branch in the sector Mariano Ramos, on April 30.

He would also be involved in the attacks committed against the Sijin headquarters and the Aviation School Marco Fidel Suárez on April 17. Likewise, there is evidence indicating that he allegedly threw an explosive at the police station in Alfonso López neighborhood on March 31 of this year.

A prosecutor of the Sectional Office in Cauca charged ‘Jacobo’ with aggravated criminal conspiracy and terrorism. He did not plead guilty to the charges.

In a hearing*, a supervisory judge in Cali imposed a prison sentence against Maldonado Cáceres at the request of the Office of the Attorney General.

  • Prison sentence for Jail for the alleged ringleader of the ELN urban networks

The arguments presented by the Office of the Attorney General were approved by a  judge who imposed a prison sentence against Yeison Lerma Castro, alias Lerma, the alleged leader of an urban network of the so-called José María Becerra ELN Front; and his brother, Jorge Luis Lerma Castro.

These two people were allegedly involved in the acts of violence that occurred in the last 15 days in Cali and Jamundí (Valle del Cauca).

The investigation revealed that ‘Lerma’, was allegedly told by the top leaders of the criminal structure to contact several people and foreign citizens to supposedly, provide them with elements to sabotage the protests, attack the public force and carry out acts of vandalism against mass transport system commerce and banks.

The Lerma Castro brothers were arrested in a joint action by the Office of the Attorney General and DIJIN-National Police in El Vallado neighborhood in Cali (Valle del Cauca).

As a result of the proceeding, there were found 45 mm cartridges, seven cell phones, and a flash-bang grenade used by the Anti-Riot Squad (ESMAD) which was altered and reconstructed with 400 grams of nails. This device, apparently, was going to be used in the protests in Cali.

A prosecutor of the Special Directorate against Criminal Organizations charged alias Lerma with aggravated criminal conspiracy, aggravated rebellion, and manufacture, trafficking, and possession of weapons, ammunition for restricted use, for the exclusive use of the Armed Forces or explosives. On the other hand, Jorge Luis Lerma Castro was charged with manufacturing, trafficking, and possession of weapons, ammunition for restricted use, for the exclusive use of the Armed Forces or explosives.

“We continue working so that with these prosecutions and all those that will follow, due to the criminal actions that commit people who believe they can evade the criminal code, citizens can feel great relief and recover security in the city”, stated the Attorney Barbosa.

The Office of the Attorney General makes this information public for reasons of general interest.

When we speak, results follow.

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.

 

*Several  kinds  of  hearings  held  in  one  hearing  (known as audiencias concentradas in Spanish)