Most Operation Fisher detainees have no crime records
Most of the 57 people arrested in Operation Fisher did not have a criminal record says acting Attorney General Javier Caraballo but ended up providing logistical support to the Colombian drug cartel Clan del Golfo and accumulating large amounts of money while keeping a low profile structuring groups like the one that was dismantled two weeks ago, he said.
In the Sunday Open Debate program on Telemetro, Caraballo said that the ease with which this criminal group managed to introduce large amounts of money to the economic circuits also called attention.
“We are talking 12 buildings or houses were seized from the criminal group, many were luxury, in addition to the money that they cannot justify,” he said.
The “caletos” (hiding places) – where about 10 million dollars were located – were “simple”, but in the beach area, there are houses valued at one million dollars, two houses with indoor swimming pools. “This group had everything, there were houses to live in, relax, and others as a cove or hideout for money.”
Caraballo said that, after eight days of hearings in the case, prosecutors will now be able to delve into the investigations into how the real estate was obtained – as well as 38 high-end vehicles that were bought with cash – and how they managed to skip the controls to acquire them.
The line of investigation that follows is to verify how they managed to get hold of this amount of luxurious goods and, depending on what is found, it will be seen if there is criminal responsibility of other people, said the official. “You hardly manage to catch all the people in the network in the first phase of the investigation,” he said.
On December 9, a guarantee judge ordered the preventive detention of 51 of the 56 accused of crimes of illicit association and money laundering, who are accused of being part of a criminal organization linked to the Gulf Clan. One of the defendants, Xavier Bartuano, accepted a sentence of 68 months in prison for the crime of illicit association.