Paraguayan authorities are being investigated if the anti-drug prosecutor Marcelo Pecciassassinated on Tuesday, May 10 on a beach in the Colombian Caribbean, was followed from Asunción by his perpetrators, the commander in chief of the National Police informed AFP, Gilberto Fleitas.
“It’s a posibility. We can’t rule out anything. We are investigating in detail with the collaboration of the Colombian Police and the United States Police (FBI), “said the person in charge of security in Paraguay.
YOU CAN SEE: Renowned Paraguayan anti-mafia prosecutor murdered during his honeymoon in Colombia
He also said that, with his investigations, “several foreigners were convicted” (some Lebanese) discovered in crimes related to transnational crime.
Murder of prosecutor Marcelo Pecci: latest news on the case
Live: Marcelo Pecci: Latest news on the assassination of the Paraguayan prosecutor in Colombia
In turn, the Paraguayan Interior Minister, Federico Gonzalezadded that the national security forces “work in coordination with Interpol, the DEA, the FBI and the Colombian Police to advance in the identification and capture of those responsible.”
Asked about the possibility that Pecci has been followed from Paraguay, replied: “No line of investigation can be ruled out. Everything is being analyzed.”
Fleitas recalled that prosecutor Pecci, murdered on the Colombian island of Barú while enjoying his honeymoon, “was handling very important cases against members of organized crime, involved in money laundering and drug trafficking.”
For this Friday, a protest demonstration against the murder of Pecci, 45, was announced. The so-called “March of Courage” will start from the headquarters of the Prosecutor’s Office to the Pantheon of Heroes, in the central radius of the Paraguayan capital.
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Who was Marcelo Pecci, the prosecutor murdered in Colombia?
Marcelo Pecci worked as a specialized prosecutor against organized crimedrug trafficking, money laundering and financing of terrorism in Paraguay.
He was killed while on the coast of Colombia, after having married the last April 30 with the Paraguayan journalist claudia aguilera. The courtship and subsequent engagement was announced this year.
The couple chose the island of Barú, near the city of Cartagena, as a destination to enjoy their honeymoon. However, two men attacked them and one of them shot the lawyer twice until he was killed.
Crime of Marcelo Pecci
Claudia Auilera, Pecci’s wife, reported that around 10:30 am on Tuesday, May 10, a man got off a boat and shot her husband twice. “We were helped by other people who were on the beach, but he was dead,” she said.
Hours before the attack, Aguilera had announced through their social networks that they were both expecting their first child, adding that they felt calm on their trip, that they had no escorts. “We had no threats,” she said.
General Jorge Luis Vargas, director of the Colombian National Police, told the press that the authorities are already carrying out urgent and confidential steps that, according to what he stated, “will help identify those responsible for this unfortunate event.”
Meanwhile, the Paraguayan Police also sent a delegation to Colombia to join the investigation.
Paraguay’s attorney general, Sandra Quiñonez, spoke about what happened and also accused Pecci’s death of “cowardly hands of criminal structures.”
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Marcelo Pecci’s career in Paraguay
According to the Paraguayan press, Pecci was part of an operation called “Ultranza”directed against drug trafficking and money laundering, and was involved in the investigation of an attack that occurred in January during a concert in that country.
In the year 2000, he began his career within the Public Ministry. On that occasion, he entered as an assistant and, since 2009, began his work as a prosecutor.
Pecci was known for participating in the investigation into the murder of the daughter of a regional governor, as well as in the case of former Brazilian soccer player Ronaldinho, when he was arrested while trying to enter Paraguay with an adulterated passport in 2020.
With information from AFP.
