Operation Centenario: Police Capture 5 International Criminals Wanted for Jewelry Theft in Europe and South America

2023-09-10 21:03:54

Within the framework of operation ‘Centenario’, the Directorate of Criminal Investigation and Interpol (Dijín) managed to capture 5 people requested for extradition by Portugal, Peru, Argentina, and Brazil, for the crime of theft.

One of those detained is Carmen Andrea Gallardo Cantor from Bogotá, who, according to authorities, was the leader of a dangerous criminal gang in Europe, dedicated to jewelry theft in Portugal. The 40-year-old woman had settled in Portugal in 2009 and coordinated the theft of vehicles that transported these luxurious pieces.

Gallardo had been a fugitive from justice for 10 years, however, an oversight by her daughter on social networks made Dijín investigators manage to locate her. According to the investigator of the case, the young woman, in a live broadcast, gave them a valuable clue.

“She told the person who was with her that she was going to complain to her mother, which gives us to understand that possibly the target was with her daughter at that time (…) the group of investigators that we had working moved the case and at the moment the daughter and her mother leave the house, Carmen Andrea Gallardo is captured,” said the investigator of the case.

The Police assured that one of the ways this woman operated was to locate jewelry stores in the main cities of Portugal and identify her behavior patterns, such as the days on which merchandise was transported to supply commercial establishments.

“At the time when the security oversights occurred, the personnel designated to commit the act broke the windows of the cars or violated their license plates and removed the jewelry and valuable items found in them. It is estimated that in each theft committed by these people they could have profits of more than 200,000 euros,” the authorities say.

The woman, according to the Police, would also have a record in Spain for the same crimes, and in Colombia she would have complaints for allegedly leading a criminal organization dedicated to the theft of cell phones within Transmilenio. Investigations still ongoing.

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Since Gallardo fled Europe, many of his movements were unknown to the authorities, but what is known is that he arrived in Colombia and somehow managed to get around the Immigration security filters.

The Police located her in the Rafael Uribe town, in the south of Bogotá, after in 2020 the Portuguese Police included her on the list of the most wanted criminals by Interpol in Lyon, France.

Four detainees plus requests for extradition

Operation ‘Centenario’ also achieved the capture of Jefferson Geovanni Ortiz, requested for extradition by Brazil; Ramiro Prada Aparicio and Carlos Mauricio Sánchez Yara, requested for extradition by the authorities of Argentina and Luis Felipe Parra Santacruz, wanted in Peru for theft of jewelry in different modalities.

Arrested for theft and requests for extradition

In the case of Jefferson Ortiz, the Police point out that “he belongs to a transnational criminal organization, made up mostly of Colombians specialized in committing large-scale thefts in commercial establishments, especially jewelry stores.”

Thefts are attributed to him in Brazil, where two thefts stand out in the cities of Fortaleza and Salvador Bahía, when he stole several watches and jewelry from a jewelry store valued at approximately 9 million reais, more than 8,000 billion Colombian pesos.

In the case of Carlos Mauricio Sánchez, he is credited with leading an organization that entered homes to commit crimes. While Ramiro Prada is accused of committing thefts in Argentina in the form of freight.

Finally, Luis Felipe Parra, detained in the San Isidro neighborhood, in Suba (Bogotá) is accused of committing aggravated robberies in Peru. “The defendant is alleged to have been part of a criminal organization dedicated to theft from people since 2015, where they studied their victims and after selecting them, they threatened them with sharp weapons, forcing them to hand over their belongings, among which items such as cell phones stand out, which were sold in the clandestine market.”

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