At the request of the Attorney General´s Office, a judge imposed a prison sentence on Juan Carlos Arias Toro, Gustavo Adolfo Londoño Chica, and Viviana Caro Garzón, allegedly responsible for extorting citizens in La Tebaida (Quindío).
A prosecutor from the Sectional Office in Quindío (Seccional Quindío) charged them, based on their individual responsibilities, with aggravated extortion and attempted aggravated extortion. The defendants did not plead guilty to the charges.
According to the investigation, the facts began on April 9, when these three individuals arrived at a property in the rural area of La Tebaida, apparently with firearms. They intimidated the housekeepers and demanded the delivery of nine head of cattle, valued at $30,000,000, in exchange for not harming their lives or the property’s furniture.
On April 12, both men arrived at a commercial establishment and apparently, through a video call, forced a man to pay them 40 million pesos in exchange for not harming his life or his family.
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.