SEMANA exclusively obtained the images of the risky Police operation in Chimichagua and Pailitas, Cesar to capture Geovanny Velásquez Pérez, known as alias El Canadiane and who would be the organizer of several kidnappings of the ELN in the departments of Cesar, Magdalena and Norte de Santander.
The capture of this subject was of great importance for the public force, since apparently he would be the mastermind of the kidnappings of the ranchers, Heriberto Urbina Lacouture, Jesús del Carmen Quintero Navarro, and Juan Carlos Bayter Bustamante.
Velásquez Pérez was issued a blue Interpol notice for the crime of kidnapping for ransom. After the full identification of alias El Canadiane, the special commandos of the Gaula Police raided the house where the fugitive from justice was and captured him.
The small operations group that participated In the case he walked for several hours while escorting the captured man, who was on horseback. After several hours of travel, the uniformed officers and El Canadiane arrived at a point where a police helicopter was waiting for them to extract the captured person.
Police sources indicated that the alerts were raised by the announcement recently made by the ELN to return to the practice of kidnappings. extortionists in the country. The guerrilla, through a statement, announced that it was reactivating the kidnappings, which were suspended for a few months, after the pressure on the peace process being carried out. with the national government, which is in crisis.
After the kidnapping, and after several days in captivity, the ELN guerrilla, which is in a peace process, claimed responsibility for the criminal action. For this case, all the intelligence of the State was deployed, which moved to Barrancas to work on the release of the father of the Colombia national team player.
“To date, May 3, 2024, the Fund has not yet been established, the Government shows little will to advance in this field (…) Given the above, The ELN terminates its offer for unilateral suspension of economic withholdings“, said the ELN a few days ago when announcing that extortionate kidnappings will return.
Regarding El Canadiane, the authorities indicated that he was sent to prison, where he must answer for the kidnapping cases that the Police and the Prosecutor’s Office accuse him of. His capture occurred in March, but only until today are images of the operation against him known.
