That reality surpasses fiction is a phrase as repeated as it is true. Alias ’Machete’, head of extortion of the Gulf Clan in western Antioquia, was captured minutes before his marriage, when he was waiting for his fiancée at the altar of a church in the municipality of Uramita .
The operation, which was carried out by the Police, the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Army, took advantage of the negligence of Luis Daniel Santana Hernández ‘Machete’, who was rarely seen in the town center, to address him.
The individual was wanted by court order since 2017, allegedly evaded various proceedings against him and protected himself in the mountains of Antioquia to evade the authorities.
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This is how, minutes before getting married and to the disbelief of those in attendance, the alleged criminal, 24 years old, was captured.
Alias Machete, an alleged member of the Gulf Clan, was captured in a church in Uramita, Antioch, when he was about to marry. This man, wanted by the authorities since 2017, will answer for the crime of conspiracy to commit aggravated crime. pic.twitter.com/zsfBz1EQpG
– El País Cali 📰 # ElPaisPaLante (@elpaiscali) August 19, 2021
Authorities had advanced an investigative process and, with the help of undercover police, knew the exact date, time and place of the church where she would marry in the municipality of Uramita.
“This subject had his operations in Peque, Uramita and Ituango, he never went out in the city center, but this time he went out to celebrate their marriage, here the intelligence capability allowed us to capture him,” he explained. General Gustavo Franco, Commander of the June Region of the National Police.
‘Machete’ had been in crime for 10 years and would be in charge of managing extortions of up to 500 million monthly in the area for the Gulf Clan.
This Thursday, a prosecutor from the Specialized Directorate against Criminal Organizations presented ‘Machete’ before a bail control judge and charged him with the crime of conspiracy to commit aggravated crime.
The defendant did not accept the charge and must comply with a measure of deprivation of liberty in prison.
“In this way, the Prosecutor’s Office hits the substructure Edwin Román Velásquez Baye and leaves its ringleader, alias Cartagena, without one of his noted trusted men who, apparently, coordinated the security rings, the provision of weapons, the execution of homicides and drug trafficking activities in western Antioch, “authorities said.