The defendant is the alleged responsible for promoting extortion against merchants, property owners, and contractors in several municipalities in Córdoba.
Investigations carried out by a prosecutor of Gaula appointed to the branch office in Córdoba (Seccional Córdoba) allowed a judge in Montería to impose a prison sentence on José Gregorio Sierra Vargas, alias Morocho, allegedly responsible for the crimes of criminal conspiracy and extortion, both aggravated offenses.
The Office of the Attorney General established that Sierra Vargas was the financial head of the so-called Clan del Golfo, which operates in Bajo Sinú. In this capacity, it is believed he ordered other members of the criminal organization to extort merchants, property owners, contractors, and the public. The victims had to pay the demanded quantities of money so they could continue their work.
These actions were allegedly committed between December 2001 and September 2022 by alleged members of the Zuley Guerra substructure of Clan del Golfo, which operates in the municipalities of Lorica, Cotorra, and San Bernardo del Viento (Córdoba).
‘Morocho’ is believed to be one of the men who, in February 2022, arrived with firearms at a road construction project in the municipality of Lorica, where they demanded the payment of a large sum of money under the threat of preventing the project from moving forward.
Gaula of National Police arrested the defendant on March 12 in Lorica.
The information contained in this press release corresponds to the narration of the objective news provided by the officials in charge of carrying out 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.