One billion pesos offers family of young man kidnapped for information that helps his release

On April 4, the family of the 28-year-old merchant Victor Tellez Rizcala, who was kidnapped in Santa Rosa, south of Bolivar, offered 1 billion pesos as a reward for anyone who provides information about the whereabouts of his relative.

On Blu Radio, the father of the kidnapped young man, Víctor Tellez Vargas, assured that they still don't know anything about the businessman and asked Colombians for help in finding his son,

He also added that his family had never received threats against him and that is why he fears for his son's life.

The abduction of Tellez took place last Sunday in the San Benito village, 20 minutes from the town center, when armed men entered the businessman's estate.

Cases of allegations of people being kidnapped in order to ask for money for their “prompt release” are reported daily. These forms of extortion have national authorities on alert, mainly the Unified Action Groups for Personal Freedom (GAULA), of the Police, Army and Prosecutor's Office.

The Office of the Ombudsman assured that during 2021 the humanitarian efforts carried out by that body allowed the return to freedom of several persons who were in the possession of illegal armed groups. Among them, the release of Colonel Pedro Enrique Pérez, on December 19 of last year, and of engineer Luis Andrés Armando Araque, on the 26th of the same month, was highlighted.

In dialogue with El Colombiano, Major Camilo Bello, commander of the Military Gaula of the Fourth Brigade, said: “It is not as easy today to commit a kidnapping as it was a few years ago. The capacity that we have Army, Prosecutor's Office and Police is no longer the same for bandits as was the case 15 or 20 years ago, when the famous miraculous fishing was done, the mass kidnappings. It is no longer possible today.” He added that these “forms of abduction” are short-lived and not for months or years.

Authorities assured that express kidnapping is not a widespread crime, nor is it widespread, but practised occasionally by some gangs and as a factor of opportunity. There are several mechanisms that criminals use to carry out this crime. One of the most frequent is to contact a citizen to offer him a business or a job, they schedule appointments in neighborhoods far from the city or rural areas, to commit kidnapping there.

Even cases have been reported where kidnapping is not actually carried out, they ensure that the victim is kept incommunicado from their relatives and/or relatives, to call them and demand money for their alleged release.

According to figures reported by the Ombudsman's Office, the departments most affected by this crime are Valle del Cauca, which led the list with 24 cases, Antioquia with 22, Cauca with 13 and Cundinamarca with 12. Of the total number of recorded kidnappings, 44 were classified as simple kidnappings and 71 as extortive kidnappings.

Gerson Vergara, Regional Ombudsman, told El País that, “thanks to investigations carried out by the authorities, it was possible to determine that this practice is carried out in prisons and the calls are already identified from which ones are being made”, statements that are consistent with those made by Gabriel Niño, police major Nacional who told El Colombiano that, “the callers are in jail, and they make a lie telling the victim that they have her under surveillance and is surrounded. If you don't see anyone around, don't believe the story.”

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