Colombian police arrest 15 gang members

Source:Xinhua Published: 2013-2-8 9:58:00

Colombian police have arrested 15 members of a drug-trafficking gang, including three police officers, the National Police said Thursday.

The 15 men, all members of the Los Urabenosare ring, were arrested for their suspected role in the deaths of two police officers in the northern state of Antioquia.

Police confirmed that the three police officers detained have been members of the gang for several years.

The operations were carried out in the northern cities of Valledupar, Santa Marta, Fundacion and Maicao, police said, without giving a specific date.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos on Wednesday highlighted the capture of a drug kingpin named Peru Jacinto Nicolas Fuentes, alias Don Leo.

According to Colombian authorities, Fuentes is a former member of right-wing paramilitary groups and worked for various leaders of the United Self-Defenses of Colombia (AUC), which was disbanded in 2008, when its leaders were extradited to the United States and its 30,000 paramilitary fighters were demobilized.

Fuentes was once captured in 2008 but freed a year later, and then returned to criminal activity, officials said.

Posted in: Americas

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