A Colombian businessman was rescued by anti-kidnapping forces early Monday morning after being held captive for two months.
Originally kidnapped on March 11 of this year, Eduardo Vives Lacouture was found tied to a bed in the northern Colombian state of Cesar.
According to anti-kidnapping police (GAULA) Director General Humberto Gautibonza, “It was a clean operation in which not a single shot was fired; it was a surprising and successful operation.”
Guatibonza indicated that a special group of the GUALA had been assigned to the case since March. During the investigation process, the kidnappers reportedly attempted to mislead authorities by issuing messages that they had Vives detained in a different location — in the Sierra Madre region.
Intelligence analyses reported otherwise, however, and the businessman was rescued about 73 miles away, in the town of Bosconia.
Four suspects were apprehended as a result of the raid and are scheduled to be presented before a judge for crimes including kidnapping, conspiracy and extortion. It is not clear whether they were working as part of a larger criminal operation.
The Vives family has had a mixed past concerning kidnapping and other illegal activities of which it has been both perpetrator and victim.
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The businessman’s cousin, Mauricio Vives, was reportedly abducted by the ELN rebel group in 2005 and found dead two years later.
Another cousin of the businessman, former congressman Luis Eduardo Vives, was convicted of collaborating with paramilitary groups involved in kidnapping and other large-scale criminal activities.
Sources:
- Rescatan a empresario Eduardo Vives Lacouture en Bosconia, Cesar (El Tiempo)
- Rescatan al empresario Eduardo Vives Lacouture, tras dos meses de secuestro (W Radio)
