The Colombian police released a search and capture circular with the photograph of one of the suspects in the murder this Tuesday of Marcelo Pecci, an anti-mafia prosecutor from Paraguay who was shot while on his honeymoon on the island of Barú.
In the police circular, a man dressed in black and with a hat that partially hides his face is seen, and the collaboration of the public is requested to identify him, with several telephone lines and emails to provide information.
The director of the Colombian police, Jorge Luis Vargas, said in a Press conference a reward of about $490,000 is being offered.
“We hope that in the next few minutes, with orders from the Judicial Police, we can give the national and international community other elements so that everyone can help us locate more people in clarifying this fact,” he added.
The murder occurred this morning in Barú, an island about 40 minutes by boat from Cartagena de Indias, where Pecci, 45, was on his honeymoon with his wife, the Paraguayan journalist Claudia Aguilera, with whom had married on April 30 in Asunción.
The Decameron hotel, where the couple who announced today that they were going to be parents was staying, said that “hitmen who arrived on jet skis at the beach” murdered the prosecutor.
In addition, they added that the attackers shot one of the security guards of this beach resort, but the man was unharmed.
#ATTENTION. This is one of the alleged perpetrators of the murder of the prosecutor against Paraguayan Organized Crime, Marcelo Pecci, which occurred in Barú. Help us identify it. pic.twitter.com/wnqR1IDoKh
– General Jorge Luis Vargas Valencia (@DirectorPolicia) May 10, 2022
Colombia was unaware of Pecci’s presence
According to the police, “there was no knowledge of the presence of the Paraguayan prosecutor in Colombia, and because of his position he was one of the most protected people in Paraguay.”
The Colombian authorities have not yet released more details of who may be behind the murder of this specialized prosecutor against Organized Crime, Drug Trafficking, Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism in Paraguay.
However, the president of Paraguay, Mario Abdo Benítez, pointed to “organized crime” by emphasizing the fight led by the Paraguayan official, while the Prosecutor’s Office of that country branded those who hide behind “large criminal structures” as cowards.
The assassinated official had dealt with media cases such as the arrest for forgery of the passport of former Brazilian soccer player Ronaldinho or the investigation of the shooting that occurred at the Ja’umina festival, last January, where the model and influencer Cristina ‘Vita’ Aranda, wife of the soccer player Iván Torres.
The attorney general of Paraguay, Sandra Quiñónez, assured in statements to the Colombian radio station Blue Radio that they are studying the hypothesis of whether Pecci, who “managed his entire security system himself,” would have followed him from Asunción to Cartagena.
“At some point Pecci had to face some types of threats that he handled very well, taking the precautions of his work,” said the prosecutor.