After approving the request made by the Office of the Attorney General, Edgar Quitumbo Peñas, alias ‘James’ or ‘El Gordo’, an alleged leader of a residual armed group of the Jaime Martínez column (columna movil), as well as 3 other people, were sent to prison by a supervisory judge for the alleged commission of manufacturing, trafficking, or possession of firearms for exclusive use of the Armed Forces.
The defendants were apprehended in flagrante on June 11 in the rural settlement named El Naranjal, jurisdiction of the municipality of Suárez (Cauca) by members of Dijin- National Police, with the support of the Army.
The authorities found alias ‘James’ or ‘El Gordo’, as well as Rodrigo Zetty Bototo, Luis David Ortiz Quiñónez and Juan Carlos Noscue Dagua in possession of 4 handguns, 2 IM-16 grenades, $30 million in cash, 2 USB flash drives, a radio for communications, and 3 checkbooks with the letterhead of Jaime Martínez Column. These people were driving a van.
In preliminary hearings, a prosecutor from the National Office against the Organized Crime in Cali charged the 4 people arrested for manufacturing, trafficking, and possessing firearms, ammunition for the exclusive use of the Armed Forces, or aggravated possession of explosives.
According to decision made by a Judge, Quitumbo Peña, Zetty Bototo, Ortiz Quiñónez, and Noscue Dagua, who did not plead guilty to the charges, must serve a term in prison.
The Office of the Attorney General makes this information public for reasons of general interest.