At the request of the Attorney General’s Office, a judge imposed a prison sentence on seven alleged members of the so-called Kepha criminal group, which operates in municipalities such as La Tebaida, Armenia (Quindío), Caicedonia, Alcalá, and La Victoria (Valle del Cauca).
A prosecutor appointed to the branch of Quindío (Seccional Quindío) charged them with conspiracy to commit a crime and homicide; both aggravated offenses; as well as trafficking, manufacturing, or possession of narcotics; and manufacturing, trafficking, possession of firearms, accessories, parts, or ammunition. The defendants did not plead guilty to the charges.
During 12 search warrants carried out in the above mentioned municipalities, officers from the Technical Investigation Unit, with the support of the National Police, arrested Angy Maryori Foronda, Holmes Morales Carmona, Edilson Muñoz, Luis Guillermo Arias Marín, Víctor Alfonso Peña Castañeda, Mario Andrés Muñoz Rodas and Orlando Esteban Buitrago Flor.
The investigation revealed that Kepha is a criminal group involved in the commission of selective murders in these municipalities for territorial control of local drug trafficking. These individuals are allegedly linked to seven homicides and one attempted homicide.
Nathalia Muñoz, Eduar Stiven Ramírez Sánchez, and María Edilsa Caicedo Cárdenas were also arrested in flagrante. They were charged, based on their individual responsibility, with trafficking, manufacturing, or drugs possession; and manufacturing, trafficking, possessing firearms, accessories, parts, or ammunition. These defendants did not plead guilty to the charges and were sent to 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.