Judicial authorities have opened an investigation against a Medellin judge who placed local mafia head “El Cebollero” from prison and placed him under house arrest.
The Supreme Judicial Council of Antioquia announced Sunday it has begun an investigation into Judge Humberto Navales Durango’s ruling last week, which allowed for the release of El Cebollero from Itagui maximum-security prison.
The judge faces suspension if his decision is found to be illegal.
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos called for an investigation into the release, which the judge claimed resulted from El Cebollero’s health problems.
“This is the fourth time that some court, a judge in this case, has given house arrest to a criminal of this type,” the president said.
“If you have health problems, then you are sent to a hospital, but not to a house where you can continue committing crimes, as we know is done,” Santos added.
El Cebollero has served two-thirds of his 50-month sentence for conspiracy to join and fund La Union, an alleged branch of the Oficina de Envigado narco-trafficking organization.