The Attorney General’s Office prosecuted Johan Smith Arango Narváez for his alleged responsibility in the commission of conspiracy to commit a crime and extortion, both aggravated offenses, and illegal possession of firearms; but he did not plead guilty to the charges.
A prosecutor appointed to Gaula of branch office in Tolima (Seccional Tolima) revealed that Arango Narváez was apparently a member of Darío Gutiérrez front of the Jorge Suárez Briceño Bloc of Farc’s dissidents.
On July 23, 2023, he allegedly forced a coffee merchant to hand over 6 million COP as a contribution to the illegal armed group.
According to the investigation, this man was allegedly one of those responsible for holding the meetings in El Silencio neighborhood in Planadas (Tolima), in which victims were asked to pay up to 10,000,000 COP to avoid harming their lives and burning their vehicles.
A judge ordered him to serve a prison sentence. His arrest affects the chain that guaranteed the flow of money and communication between rural leaders and urban tax collectors.
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.