It is believed that these men extorted their victim by pretending to be members of FARC dissidents.
The evidence collected by a specialized prosecutor from the Sectional Office in Huila allowed the prosecution of four men who would be part of an illegal organization ‘Los Guaqueros’, accused of extorting a farmer from Suaza (Huila), between February and June 2023.
The defendants are: Óscar Alexander Montealegre, Sinaí Rincón Rincón, Naren Felipe González Charry and David Martínez Menco. The Office of the Attorney General charged them, according to their individual responsibilities, with simple kidnapping, aggravated extortion and conspiracy to commit crimes for ransom.
According to the investigation, the man was working on his farm where, apparently, he was approached by people who identified themselves as members of the FARC dissidents, who stated that there were some buried items which belonged to them. Presumably, they locked up the victim and his family so that they would not see what they were going to take.
‘Los Guaqueros’ allegedly took the victim’s belongings and began to extort him through phone calls in which they demanded payment of sums between 80 and 120 million COP, in exchange for not killing the members of the family.
The arrests were carried out by Gaula of the National Police in Antioquia, Neiva and Bogotá.
None of the defendants pleaded guilty to the charges. A judge imposed a prison sentence against three of the defendants. A noncustodial sentence was issued for Rincón Rincón.
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.