Members of paramilitary group “Los Urabeños” arrested last week admit to murdering at least a dozen people, including witnesses in Colombia’s Justice and Peace process, reports El Tiempo.
Police said that the gang of assassins was divided into two groups, one which was active in rural areas and one which worked in cities, and that the gang also had “tentacles in Bogota.”
“This organization is dedicated to the murder of public officials and to silencing witnesses,” said police chief General Oscar Naranjo.
Among the murders committed by the Urabenos was that of prosecutor Mary Luz Romero who was killed after she refused to halt her investigations into former paramilitaries.
The prosecution revealed evidence in the court hearing which linked the group to the murders, including phone conversations intercepts.
“I feel bad because I had to kill three, a man, a woman and a girl,” one of the accused said in a phone conversation with his mother.
An attorney at the hearing said that the “pacientes” (patients), or assassins, charged between COP10 million and 20 million for a hit.