The Attorney General’s Office brought six individuals before a judge since they allegedly conspired to extort merchants in Soledad (Atlántico).
During the preliminary hearings, a prosecutor appointed to the branch office in Atlántico (Seccional Atlántico) charged them with criminal conspiracy and aggravated extortion. None of the defendants pleaded guilty to the charges and must serve a prison sentence.
According to the investigation, the defendants used intimidating pamphlets, on behalf of a criminal group, to demand sums of money from merchants in exchange for not harming their lives or affecting their businesses.
The people involved are Leiner Javier Betancourt Jiménez, alias El Nene; Faniel Enrique Quintero Barceló, Ilfran Almanza de la Rosa, Lucy Marcela Yepes Rodríguez, Breiner José Caballero Lozano and Sebastián José Castro González, who were arrested on April 6 by National Police officers pursuant to a court order.
Several threatening pamphlets were seized when they were arrested.
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.