• Two men were prosecuted for allegedly causing the death of a manatee in Tasajera (Magdalena).
  • A structure that apparently deforested the national park Parque Nacional Natural Nudo del Paramillo to illegally sell wood was also dismantled

In Montería (Córdoba), the Attorney General, Francisco Barbosa Delgado, announced the investigative actions led by the Specialized Directorate against Human Rights Violations, in coordination with the National Police, which allowed the prosecution of the alleged responsible for committing crimes against fauna and natural resources in the country.

The results were achieved in Magdalena and Córdoba, in the following cases:

  • Death of a manatee in Tasajera

The investigation allowed the prosecution of Aldair José Álvarez Orozco and Frank David Hernández Trullot, as allegedly responsible for attacking and causing the death of a manatee.

The evidence shows that the defendants, along with other citizens of Tasajera (Magdalena), apparently hunted the mammal that had been rescued and returned to its natural habitat days before, and they allegedly wounded it with a harpoon, beat it and even tied the snout to prevent it from breathing.

In this sense, a prosecutor from the Special Directorate against Human Rights Violations charged the defendants with damage to natural resources and aggravated animal abuse. He also charged Hernández Trullot with extortion since he apparently demanded money from the corporation Corporación Autónoma Regional del Magdalena to return the mammal that was dying. Both men pleaded guilty to the charges.

  • Deforestation at the natural park Parque Nacional Natural Nudo del Paramillo

The actions of the Prosecutor’s Office and the Police revealed a criminal network that cut down trees of protected species of the natural park Parque Nacional Natural Nudo del Paramillo which would be generating a negative impact on the ecosystems of the valleys of Sinú and San Jorge, in Córdoba.

According to the information and evidence collected, the structure extracted the wood from the reserve to later transport it to Montería (Córdoba) and neighboring municipalities where it sold it to armed groups such as the Clan del Golfo, generally for the construction of complexes, the transport of cocaine or the manufacture of boats used for the commission of illicit crimes.

Likewise, it is believed that the network used indigenous communities in the region to carry out the cutting down of trees, taking into account their extensive knowledge of the area and the species that were profitable.

As a result of home searches carried out in Montería and Tierralta (Córdoba), nine people were arrested by virtue of a court order. Furthermore, 110 cubic meters of Brazilian-type wood, cedar, ‘campano’ wood, among other protected species, and documents with accounting information were also seized.

The detainees, six men, and three women will be brought before a judge. A prosecutor from the Special Directorate against Human Rights Violations will charge them, according to their level of participation, with aggravated illegal use of renewable natural resources.

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.