Authorities in El Salvador have arrested some 110 people, mostly Colombians, accused of being part of a network that laundered money and defrauded thousands of citizens of the Central American country.
(You can read: Bukele warns that he will imprison “misnamed peace managers” who set foot in El Salvador)
The detainees, including ex-military and ex-police officers, entered El Salvador at different times “as tourists” and obtained credits, but were not registered with the Superintendence of the Financial System.
(Keep reading: Man kills two gang members in El Salvador: police say it was in self-defense)
“It has established the existence of ua criminal organization made up of foreigners, mainly of Colombian nationality“, declared this Monday at a press conference the attorney general, Rodolfo Delgado, who pointed out that the investigation has been carried out “during the last few days.”
The detainees are 105 Colombians, an Argentine, a Guatemalan and 3 Salvadorans.
(In addition: El Salvador denies before the IACHR torture and harassment of the press during the emergency regime)
The money from the loans entered the country through “remittances or bank transactions” that were made from abroad. The structure obtained loans at 20 percent interest and the people who defaulted were threatened or they “usurped their identity” to manage bank accounts or debit cards through which the money was sent abroad, according to the authorities.
When victims can’t pay, collectors resort to threats and then pretend to want to help.
“When victims cannot pay, collectors resort to threats and then pretend to want to help, telling them that their debt will be canceled if they open bank accounts and give them all the data and access to them,” according to a joint statement from the Police and Prosecutor’s Office.
(We recommend: The cases of Colombian prisoners in El Salvador accused of belonging to gangs)
From 2021 to date, according to Delgado, the structure sent to Colombia “more than 20 million dollars”.
The prosecutor specified that he received some 3,000 complaints of “scams, computer scams, that have been committed by Colombians.”
The detainees would be part of the “Drop a Drop structure” that was born in the Colombian cartels in 1998 and that would have operated in different countries, precisely for his part the Minister of Justice and Security, Gustavo Villatoro.
(Also: Yamil Bukele: The Colombian brother of President Bukele)
In El Salvador, according to Villatoro, there are about 400 Colombians whose immigration permit “expired” and who would be part of this network. “Those more than 400 Colombians who are still here irregularly, and are carrying out activities for this money laundering structure of international drug trafficking cartels, have 72 hours to leave this country,” Villatoro said.
For his part, President Nayib Bukele assured that Colombians “will have to face Salvadoran justice, whoever claims it.”
(See also: Nayib Bukele is running for re-election in El Salvador: party makes his candidacy official)
Colombians are our brothers, but as in any society, there is always a small percentage that wants to take advantage of others; some of them have come to commit crimes in our country.
These people will have to face Salvadoran justice, whoever claims it. https://t.co/RgpYGG4DNp
— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) July 17, 2023
The president invited “good Colombians” to visit El Salvador to “vacation, invest, work or emigrate” and promised them that they would have “legal security” and other guarantees. However, he warns that “criminals, drug traffickers, fraudsters and some of the so-called ‘peace managers’ better not come to our country looking for trouble, because our prisons are waiting for them.”
(You can read: Anguish of the family of a Colombian prisoner in El Salvador, they put tattoos on his face)
The “peace managers” seems to be an allusion to the Colombian president, Gustavo Petro, with whom Bukele has had some controversies.
AFP
