Operation Jericho: Drug Prosecutor’s Office Charges Abraham Rico Pineda’s Wife with Money Laundering

The judge of guarantees, Irene Cedeño, accepted the charge presented by the Drug Prosecutor’s Office against Maybeth Araúz, wife of Abraham Rico Pineda , for the crime of money laundering, for her alleged participation in a criminal network dismantled in Operation Jericho.  Judge Cedeño also applied the precautionary measure of notification on Monday and Friday and prohibition of Araúz from leaving the country, after considering that the accused is a mother of two small children and is breastfeeding.  During the hearing, which began at 2:00 pm on Tuesday, December 10, drug prosecutor Yhonkley Boniche assured that the accused had an active participation in the money laundering scheme in which she participated with Omar Ortega and her husband Abraham Rico Pineda, both detained in this case. Prosecutor Boniche alleged that Maybeth Araúz is linked to Operation Jericó after the confiscation of $89,948 from Colombian Jhonatan Parra, a few minutes after meeting with Rico Pineda at the company Servicios Múltiples Rama SA, located in Betania. 

According to the prosecution, after Parra’s arrest, Rico Pineda called his wife and told her to deposit the money that was inside the “little suitcase” in several accounts in a local bank.  The investigation by the Drug Prosecutor’s Office is based on 14 transcripts of telephone interceptions of Rico Pineda. That is why the orders that the son of the deputy Raúl Pineda gave to his collaborators before and after the raids became known.  Prosecutor Boniche explained that this evidence was obtained through wiretaps made to both Rico Pineda and Maybeth Araúz.  According to the prosecution’s investigation, Araúz received money from drug sales from Omar Ortega, Rico Pineda and Edgar Joel Osigian, convicted of gang activity.  The prosecutor told the hearing that the group used payments via check to introduce funds related to illicit activities into the country’s commercial system.  For his part, Victor Orobio, Arauz’s lawyer, said that the prosecution has not been able to prove his client’s alleged participation in a criminal structure related to money laundering.  In his statement, Orobio explained that his client is only mentioned in one of the 24 events that are part of Operation Jericho and that there is no relationship between her and the rest of those under investigation. 

The only connection, in his opinion, is the fact that she is the wife of Abraham Rico Pineda and has some participation in the company Servicios Múltiples Rama, but her participation in the alleged criminal network has never been mentioned.  In Operation Jericho, which began on June 30, 2023, authorities arrested 37 people linked to that criminal structure and seized three tons of drugs.  On December 3, the Public Prosecutor’s Office sent to the Court an extension of the summary in which Congressman Raúl Pineda, pictured above, father of Abraham Rico Pineda, is allegedly linked to Operation Jericho.  These indictments contain a series of transcripts of telephone conversations that are allegedly related to money laundering activities.