Captured nine people who were part of a network of migrant smuggling and visas to the United States

Nine people were captured in a joint operation between the General Prosecutor of the Nation, Colombian Migration and the Embassy of the United States. Those involved were allegedly part of a people smuggling network. The criminal organization was in charge of the irregular management of the passage of migrants to the United States and Europe.

The investigation was carried out by the CTI, in collaboration with the National Army. The result was a simultaneous raid in six cities (Bogotá, Medellín, Pereira, Cali, Buga Pasto and Ipiales). One of the people captured was a former official of Colombian Migration.

The criminal organization was in charge of processing false documentation for foreigners and they worked mainly with citizens of the Dominican Republic, who were registered as Colombians at notaries and registry offices in the country. Once they were registered, the citizenship cards and passports were processed, for which they used the identity of deceased persons.

One of the defendants would be involved in the adulteration of certifications, addressed to a US shipping company that was looking to hire the false Colombians. With the fraudulent documentation, visas were requested at the Embassy of the USA In colombia. Once inside the North American country, the migrants chose to remain irregularly.

In one of the recordings compiled by the control entity, one of the members is heard telling the head of the organization that an ID was wrong, to which the man replied that it should be that way, since the passport had been issued. .

Those captured will be charged with the crimes of migrant smuggling, conspiracy to commit an aggravated crime and the former official was also charged with improper bribery. The authorities provided a detailed list of those captured, including:

César Ricardo Giraldo Castañeda, who would be the alleged ringleader of the network. He was appointed to coordinate the processes and procedures to obtain the false documentationas well as leading the logistics to guarantee the permanence of migrants in national territory.

Jaime Andrés Velásquez Cerón, the former agent of Colombian Migrationwho when he was in office at the Rumichaca border bridge (Ipiales, Pasto) allowed migrants with false Colombian documentation to leave the country.

Guillermo Yaseff Vergara Castro, Yeny Vanegas Muñoz and Luz Dary Rodríguez, in charge of managing the lodging and mobility of the migrantsduring the process of managing and obtaining the false documentation.

Édgar Romero Bonilla was in charge of completing the application forms for visas at the Embassy of USA In colombia. The authorities assure that he created profiles based on the false information of the migrants.

Jhon Jairo Ríos Córdoba and Harby Ibarra would have been in charge of obtaining and presenting the necessary minutes and certifications to present to the US shipping company. Finally, Shailly Alejandra Londoño Londoño worked as a collaborator of the organization. Three of the defendants accepted the charges of the Prosecutor’s Office, while the other six pleaded not guilty.