Prosecutors arrested the former coordinator of its Technical Investigations Unit (CTI) in the port city Buenaventura, according to local media.
Buenaventura’s former CTI coordinator Francisco Javier Martinez, a.k.a. “Pacho Malo,” has been in the news for weeks because of his alleged involvement in drug trafficking.
Pacho Malo was arrested in the city of Medellin on entirely different charges, however.
According to the prosecution, its former CTI chief in Buenaventura conspired to sell contraband in Buenaventura, Medellin and the capital Bogota.
Pacho Malo’s alleged involvement in drug trafficking has been covered up by acting Prosecutor General Martha Mancera, according to evidence made public by local media.
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The arrest “smells like a move to continue covering up for the mafias and guarantee impunity,” said House Representative Alfredo Mondragon of the governing Historic Pact party on social media platform X.
Senator Maria Jose Pizarro, also of the Historic Pact, called the announcement of the arrest “curious” as it occurred shortly before a Supreme Court vote to pick a new Prosecutor General.
Senator Maria Jose Pizarro
Mancera has denied Pacho Malo’s alleged involvement in drug trafficking and accused the prosecution officials who proved her wrong of stealing cocaine from drug traffickers.
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The Supreme Court has so far refused to speed up the process to pick a new chief prosecutor despite growing tensions over prominent prosecutors’ alleged involvement in organized crime and government corruption.