The half-sister-in-law of the founders of defunct paramilitary organization AUC was captured Tuesday for the murder of a land activist after a long police hunt that began in 2011.
Colombia’s police primarily sought Sor Teresa Gomez for the murder of a peasant leader prosecutors told the press. Gomez is expected to serve at least 40 years in prison for attempted murder, illicit enrichment, money laundering, conspiracy to commit a crime, and threats, in addition to the murder of displaced rights activist Yolanda Izquierdo, in 2007.
Gomez was captured in the Yumbo municipality in the southwestern Valle De Cauca state, and was found by prosecutors who specialize in combating criminal gangs with the help of the National Police Force.
There had been a $100 thousand reward on her head, and one informant gave police her exact location, which led to her capture.
The sister of Fidel, Carlos, and Vincente Castaño is know to be the world’s “darkest female” according to newspaper El Tiempo.
PROFILE: AUC
Gomez is also being investigated for contributing to the mass displacement of land committed by paramilitaries against local farmers and citizens. She reportedly was recently appointed to be the chief financial officer of the neo-paramilitary “Urabeños,” which has been one of the main enemies of the process to return land to such Colombians who have been displaced.
PROFILE: Los Urabeños
President Juan Manuel Santos heard of the news while taking part in a ceremony to launch a “Route of Reparations for Victims of Displacement” in the state of Antioquia, and “welcomed” the capture of Gomez according to local media.
In the coming days, Gomez will be moved from Cali to Bogota where she will be handed over to the National Penitentiary Institute (Inpec) as soon as possible.
Yumbo, Valle del Cauca
Sources
- Capturada hermanastra de los Castaño era el azote de la restitución (El Tiempo)
- Capturada en Colombian la hermanastra de un clan paramilitar condenada por asesinato (EFE)
