Prosecutors arrested the former deputy director of Colombia’s protection agency over his alleged ties to the Medellin mafia’s jailed assassinations chief.
The former deputy director of the National Protection Unit (UNP), Ronald Rodriguez, was arrested in Bogota on charges of drug trafficking and corruption.
Rodriguez, who left the UNP in August last year, is reportedly married to the cousin of “Douglas,” one of the jailed assassination chiefs of the “Oficina de Envigado.”
The former UNP executive got into December last year when police hauled more than 150 kilograms of cocaine from an armored UNP vehicle in the southwestern Cauca province.
The vehicle had been assigned to Rodriguez and was being used by one of his subordinates, former policeman Manuel Antonio Castañeda.
Colombia to investigate protection unit corruption
The prosecution told the court last month that Castañeda was also linked to a shipment of 340 kilograms of marihuana that was found inside another UNP vehicle in August last year.
This vehicle had been assigned to Wilson Devia, a former intelligence official who was transferred to the UNP after the dismantling of intelligence agency DAS in 2011.
Rodriguez, another former DAS official, was also transferred to the UNP in 2011.
The former UNP executive’s ties became evident because of a recipient of government protection in Medellin, who claimed that his bodyguards regularly used his car for unauthorized purposes.
This was confirmed by the car’s GPS system, which had registered multiple trips to Manrique and Aranjuez, two Medellin neighborhoods that have been effectively controlled by the Oficina’s assassination squad, “La Terraza.”
Apart from being accused of drug trafficking, Rodriguez is facing criminal charges for allegedly renting out armored vehicles to people who had not been assigned a security detail.
The UNP has been criticized for its failure to effectively provide protection to people whose lives are being threatened for years.