Sentenced alias Parranda, of the Gulf Clan, to 48 months in prison for the crime of a concert to commit a crime

On July 30, 2020, the Attorney General's Office, La Sijín and the Military Gaula carried out search and search operations in different areas of Quibdó. In the proceedings, eight people were captured and $7'996,000 pesos in cash and four cell phones were seized. At the time, before the First Municipal Criminal Court Ambulante de Quibdó, those arrested did not accept the charges charged with the crime of concert to commit an aggravated crime.

The persons judiciated were members of the Gulf Clan column operating in that area of the country. Among those captured was Andrés Yair Valencia Valencia, alias Parranda. This Thursday, March 17, and after 595 days since his arrest, he was sentenced to four years in prison, after making a pre-agreement with a specialized prosecutor of the Chocó Sectional and endorsed by a judge.

Alias Parranda will not benefit from house detention and was disabled for the same time from the exercise of public rights and functions by the end of the sentence. According to the investigating body, the convicted person was part of the Carretera substructure of the criminal group, which operates in Chocó.

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Authorities report that this criminal organization is dedicated to committing crimes such as homicide, forced displacement, extortion, and carrying weapons and drug trafficking among others in this department. This group is also responsible for the security of criminal chiefs and armed operations in colonization zones.

The Gulf Clan in the Colombian Pacific has dedicated itself mainly to the contribution of money to the organization called Self-Defense Gaitanistas de Colombia, to support its armed confrontation with the ELN.

This conflict, between the two illegal groups, has caused serious human rights effects on the inhabitants of Chocó. The general community council of San Juan (Acadesan), has in its record that more than 1,500 people have been displaced this year, in the context of this armed confrontation.

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He also reported that hundreds of people are in a state of confinement and there is a suspicion of the presence of anti-personnel mines, which prevents them from continuing their activities to use productive crops in the area.

For his part, Oliver Moreno, mayor of Medio San Juan, denounced on Radio Nacional de Colombia that although the municipality has a military presence, it “is very little and they are not able to cover the entire municipality (...) what we ask the national government the most is the public force”, in order to guarantee the security of the territory.

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The others captured in 2020 and whose future judicial proceedings have not been decided are: Alexander Gil Benitez, alias Mansa or Mello; Stiven Sinisterra Burbano, alias Felo or Felipe; Jaime Palacios Palacios, alias Pezcoy; Rober Stiven Mena Parra, alias Rober; Cristian Camilo Moreno Bermudez, alias Camilo, alias Camilo; Ceth Renth Mosquera, alias Chelo; and Edwin Quinto Arias, alias Cangri.

The results of this investigation are part of the institutional policy “in the streets and in the territories, implemented by the Attorney General of the Nation,” said Attorney General Francisco Barbosa Delgado, on the day of the capture of the eight criminals.

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