Drug gangs are suspected of the murder of two Bogota students near a north Colombia beach, the country’s Prosecutor General told RCN Radio Wednesday.
According to the radio Mateo Gomez (23) and Margarita Maria Matamala (26) were shot on January 7 near the beach of San Bernardo del Viento in Cordoba, where the students of the Universidad de los Andes were filming. It is unclear what they were filming.
The area, on the Caribbean coast of Colombia, is on a drug route where the gangs “Los Paisas” and “Los Rastrojos” are known to operate.
“The assumption is that the students were victims of criminal gangs and not common criminals who wanted to steal from them,” said Diago.
Jairo Lopez, a Cordoba government official, said that the victims, who had been filming in the area for a month, were likely confused with members of an intelligence agency, reported newspaper Vanguardia.
The investigation will be overseen by Diago and carried out by a special police unit that operates against the criminal gangs known in Colombia as BACRIM.