A prosecutor appointed to the branch office in Norte de Santander (Seccional Norte de Santander) prosecuted five individuals allegedly responsible for the crimes of manufacturing, trafficking, possession of firearms, accessories, parts, or ammunition; aggravated manufacturing, trafficking, and possession of firearms, ammunition restricted for exclusive use by the Armed Forces or explosives; and receiving stolen goods.
The defendants Wilmer Ramón López Durán, José Armando Pedraza Caicedo, Rafael Enrique Mirabar Higardo, Alfredo Antonio Ríos Pirela, and Gustavo Rolón Mendoza were arrested during a home search carried out in La Perla, in the municipality of Tibú, in a joint operation between the National Police and Army on February 20.
According to investigations, the defendants allegedly belong to a group outside the law operating in this area of the department that would be involved in acquiring, storing, and illegally commercializing firearms.
Authorities seized from the place three rifles, two 9 mm pistols, ammunition of different calibers, magazines, a cell phone, and a motorcycle.
The investigation established that these individuals allegedly carried out tasks related to storing and concealing war material, as well as providing logistical supplies for the illegal structure.
In a hearing (‘Audiencias concentradas’), a judge legalized the arrests, approved the charges that were brought, and imposed preventive detention in a prison.
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.