Colombian Hitmen With
Ties To Former
Guerillero Extradited
Last Year
The Colombian "sicarios"
(hitmen) who were
contracted for the
murder of the ministro
de la Presidencia,
Rodrigo Arias and the
ministro de Seguridad
Pública, Fernando
Berrocal, has received a
us$50.000 down payment,
according to high
sources involved in the
investigation.
The group, according to
the investigators, was
made up of 10 Colombians
- five of which were
deported on Saturday -
were to have been paid
us$150.000 for the job.
The targets were the
brother of and the
minister personally
appointed by the
president of Costa Rica,
Oscar Arias, who have
hit the drug trafficking
trade hard during this
past year with more than
40 tonnes of the
Colombian product
seized.
The sicarios are part of
the Cartel de Norte del
Valle with headquarters
in Chocó, Colombia.
During the past 12
months, in addition to
the tonnes of illegal
drugs, 52 drug
traffickers fell into
the hands of Costa Rican
authorities, according
to Seguridad Pública
vice minister, Rafael
Gutiérrez.
The five Colombians
deported Saturday were
detained in Puntarenas
and Alajuela, having
entered Costa Rican
illegally, were Saturday
afternoon in the hands
of the Departamento
Administrativo de
Seguridad (DAS) en
Bogotá - the Colombian
security service.
The ten Colombians who
were hired for the hit
had assistance by Costa
Ricans, said vice
minister Gutiérrez, who
are being investigated
for having given the
sicarios lodging and
logistics support to
carry out their
assassination plan.
Costa Rican authorities
say that the Colombians
used "blind spots" to
come to and from Costa
Rica.
Two of the hitmen had
been in Costa Rica
before and had
contracted marriage with
Costa Rican girls.
According to Mario
Zamora, director of
immigration, regretfully
the practice of
international
delinquents coming to
Costa Rica and marrying
to obtain residency, is
common.
Marriage is used as a
way of avoiding
deportation.
Vice minister Gutiérrez
confirmed yesterday that
the hitmen belong to the
organization of
Colombian Héctor Orlando
Martínez Quinto, who was
a former "guerillero" of
the Fuerzas Armadas
Revolucionarias de
Colombia (FARC) and who
was extradited from
Costa Rica last December
21.
Martínez was wanted in
Colombia for the
massacre of 119 people
on May 2, 2002, in
Bojayá, a remote jungle
community in Chocó. |
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