Medellin police have arrested a man accused of being an important lieutenant of neo-paramilitary organization “Oficina de Envigado,” authorities announced Thursday.
Carlos Augusto Correa Lopez, alias “Mono Pepe,” was arrested Saturday in the parking lot of a supermarket of the Poblado neighborhood, where he was allegedly receiving the payment for a kidnapping.
According to the authorities, Mono Pepe was an important link between rival gang lords and leaders of the infamous Oficina de Envigado, Maximiliano Bonilla Orozco, alias “Valenciano,” and Erik Vargas Cardenas, alias “Sebastian.”
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) suspected Mono Pepe of organizing a meeting between the two criminals in Argentina last September, where they allegedly signed a previsionary truce.
Since the 2008 extradition of former Oficina leader “Don Berna” to the U.S., the two men have been engaged in a bloody turf war in Medellin.
The arrest of Mono Pepe is a harsh blow to the Oficina de Envigado, said the police, who did not dismiss the possibility of transferring the suspect to Bogota, to wait a possible extradition to the U.S.