- Maikel Villegas was arrested on July 12 while crossing the border between Costa Rica and Panama on a bus bound for Nicaragua | Main photo: courtesy
The Chilean Prosecutor’s Office announced on Thursday, September 19, the decision of the Costa Rican Criminal Court to extradite Maikel Villegas Rodriguezthe main suspect in the murder of former Venezuelan military officer Ronald Ojeda, who was arrested in the Central American country in July 2024.
“The Costa Rican Criminal Court ruled in favor of Chile’s extradition request for Michael Villegas, a Venezuelan citizen involved in the kidnapping and murder of former Lieutenant Ojeda of Venezuela,” said Juan Pablo Glasinovic, director of the International Cooperation and Extraditions Unit of the Chilean Public Prosecutor’s Office, in a message to the press.
Villegas Rodríguez, a Venezuelan national, was arrested on July 12 while crossing the border between Costa Rica and Panama on a bus bound for Nicaragua. Following his arrest, the Chilean Prosecutor’s Office filed an extradition request, which was first accepted by the Court of Appeals in Santiago and now by the Costa Rican courts.
Glasinovic pointed out that the Costa Rican court’s decision was issued on September 16 in the first instance, so “an appeal is possible.” If there is no such appeal, “the State of Chile has two months to go and find Mr. Michael Villegas and bring him to that country,” he added.
Villegas was charged in absentia for the kidnapping and murder of former military officer Ronald Ojeda, which occurred last February in Santiago and shocked Venezuela.
So far, only one 17-year-old Venezuelan youth has been arrested for this crime. He has been held in a juvenile detention center since May. In addition to Villegas, the Chilean justice system has issued another arrest warrant against another Venezuelan citizen, Walter de Jesús Rodríguez Pérez, whose whereabouts remain unknown.
In April, Chilean prosecutors linked the crime to the transnational criminal gang Tren de Aragua, formed in a Venezuelan prison and spread across Chile, Peru, Colombia and Bolivia, and asked Venezuelan authorities for support in clarifying the events.
The case sparked friction between Chile and Venezuela, as well as accusations of a lack of cooperation by Santiago towards Caracas.
Villegas remained in a maximum security prison
On July 22, Chile submitted to Costa Rican authorities a formal request for the extradition of Venezuelan Maickel Villegas, suspected of the murder of Ojeda.
The Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs of Chile, Gloria de la Fuente, indicated to the news agency EFE that his government wanted to submit the formal extradition request with a high-level representation, since this is a case of “maximum gravity.”
We hope that this person is brought before the Chilean justice system and can be tried in Chile. This is one of the most horrific crimes committed against a Venezuelan citizen who was a refugee in Chile,” said de la Fuente.
The diplomat heads the high-level Chilean delegation that submitted the formal request to the authorities and also held meetings with Costa Rican government officials.
De la Fuente thanked Costa Rica for its cooperation in this case, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Security and the Judiciary.
Capture of Maikel Villegas
On July 15, a Costa Rican court ordered Villegas to be held in preventive detention for two months, pending his extradition to Chile.
Villegas, 27, was arrested on July 12 when he tried to enter Costa Rica by land from Panama, at the Paso Canoas border post, amid the controlled flow of migrants crossing the continent bound for the United States.
The Venezuelan, whose profile is considered by Interpol as “dangerous”, was detected when the Costa Rican authorities carried out the biometric control and the system reflected a red alert for the crime of kidnapping with homicide.
On the kidnapping and murder of Ronald Ojeda
On March 4th a report by The Third He highlighted how the kidnapping of former Venezuelan military officer Ronald Ojeda was allegedly carried out, whose body was found in a mass grave in the town of Maipú on March 1.
Ojeda was kidnapped on February 21 while he was in his apartment, where he lived with his wife and 6-year-old son. According to the events that the Chilean Prosecutor’s Office has been able to reconstruct, and which are cited by the media outlet, several people participated in the kidnapping, which even included a surveillance point outside the residence of the former Venezuelan lieutenant.
Authorities support this version because the only person arrested for this incident, a 17-year-old teenager, confessed that he was inside a car with another suspect, who is on the run, at the time the kidnapping took place.
The driver of the Chevrolet car (in the company of the teenager) received a call, then hung up and took out his cell phone to take a photo towards the door of the building to immortalize the moment of the exit of Ojeda and his captors,” can be read in the investigation of The Third.
The teenager said that when he asked what was going on, he was offered money, which he apparently did not accept. However, he decided to stay in the vehicle.
The Prosecutor’s Office has also stated that at least five people may have participated in the kidnapping. According to the investigations, the four people pretending to be officers of the Chilean Investigative Police (PDI) entered the Ojeda building showing an alleged arrest warrant to the caretaker of the residence.
With information from EFE
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2024-09-20 08:21:52
