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3 high-profile cases led by Marcelo Pecci, the Paraguayan prosecutor murdered in Colombia

Money laundering, drug trafficking, organized crime.

The cases directed by the Paraguayan prosecutor Marcelo Pucciassassinated this Tuesday in Colombiawere varied and complex, many of them highly publicized.

LOOK: There are already more than 100 pieces of evidence: this is how the investigation into the murder of prosecutor Marcelo Pecci in Colombia is going

Now the authorities are investigating whether the attack against the official, who was in Barú, near Cartagena de Indias on a honeymoon trip, is related to any of the legal cases in which he participated.

Pecci, 45 years old, was a special prosecutor against Organized Crime in Paraguay.

He was killed by assassins while he shared the beach with his wife claudia aguilerawhom he had married on April 30 and recently announced a pregnancy.

LOOK: Who was Marcelo Pecci, the Paraguayan organized crime prosecutor who was killed in Colombia on his honeymoon

Those responsible for the crime, who have not been identified, approached by sea in jet boats before shooting him twice.

The investigation, in which authorities from both countries and the UScould be complex due to the ramifications of the cases that Pecci handled.

Marcelo Pecci (center) participated in important investigations, such as the “Ultranza Py” operation, in which assets worth US$100 million were seized. (GettyImages).

Although they make up a long list since the beginning of his career as a prosecutor in 2009, these are three of the most relevant cases that Pecci directed.

1. Operation at “Extreme Py”

This operation against drug trafficking and money laundering in Paraguay was identified by the country’s authorities as the largest in its history.

The purpose was to dismantle a criminal organization dedicated to the transfer of drugs on a large scale from producing countries in South America, such as Bolivia, to Europe.

The scheme, according to the governmental Paraguayan Information Agency, was based on transporting cocaine through agricultural containers to various European ports.

The investigation began at the end of 2019 and the judicial interventions were carried out last February.

In this investigation, two leaders of an important criminal group were prosecuted: the brothers Miguel Ángel Insfrán, who was called Tío Rico, and José Insfrán, who was a Paraguayan politician and pastor.

The arrest warrants for these crimes were 43 and some people were related to high government officials.

Sandra Quiñonez, attorney general of Paraguay, prays in her office before speaking to the press on Tuesday regarding the murder of prosecutor Pecci.  (GettyImages).

Sandra Quiñonez, attorney general of Paraguay, prays in her office before speaking to the press on Tuesday regarding the murder of prosecutor Pecci. (GettyImages).

The government indicated that 9 aircraft, 2 yachts, 20 vehicles and 20 cargo trucks were seized in the raids. Also cattle and agricultural machinery.

The value of the goods amounted to about $US100 million.

2. San Bernardino bombing

This attack received enormous media attention after an armed group opened fire at the music festival Ja´umina Fest in Paraguay, where more than 15,000 people met last January.

It happened at the José Asunción Flores amphitheater in the town of San Bernardino. Two people were killed and five were injured in the attack.

One of the victims was the social media influencer Cristina “Vita” Aranda.

At the time, authorities said one of the wounded was the target of the crime.

Is about Jose Luis Bogado Quevedoalias Kure, alleged drug trafficker with an arrest warrant in Brazil.

Aranda was taken to a hospital alive, but died minutes later.  (EPA).

Aranda was taken to a hospital alive, but died minutes later. (EPA).

In fact, the man was later a witness in this case and it was prosecutor Pecci who took his statement, according to Paraguayan media.

Bogado Quevedo is also the nephew of Ronald Acevedo, governor of the Amambay Department, eastern Paraguay.

3. Murder of businessman Mauricio Schwartzman

Mauricio Schwartzmann He was a Paraguayan businessman who owned leather exporters who was murdered in the Jara neighborhood, in Asunción, in 2021.

Aged 52, he was shot 14 times in front of his residence.

GETTY IMAGES.

GETTY IMAGES.

The hypothesis of the authorities at the time was that the homicide was related to a settling of accounts for drug trafficking.

Schwartzman, apparently, also had an important role in the criminal organization investigated by the “A Ultranza PY” operation, reported the media in that country.

Source: Elcomercio

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