Colombian accused in 5,000-plus killings arrested

[Judi Lynn]

Aug 29, 5:06 PM EDT
Colombian accused in 5,000-plus killings arrested

PANAMA CITY, Panama (AP) -- Panamanian authorities say they have arrested a fugitive Colombian right-wing militia leader accused in more than 5,000 murders who officials say was posing as a construction company owner.

National police chief Omar Pinzon said Armando Alberto Perez was captured in Veraguas province last weekend.

In Colombia, police director Gen. Rodolfo Palomino said Perez had led 1,500 militiamen who killed at least 5,200 people at the end of the 1990s, burying them in unmarked graves. He said Perez was also accused of ordering the sexual abuse of 39 women.

Perez surrendered to authorities in 2004 as part of a peace pact that then-President Alvaro Uribe forged with Colombia's far-right militias. But he later fled. Officials said Perez drew suspicion in Panama with his a luxurious home and expensive automobiles.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/L/LT_PANAMA_COLOMBIAN_PARAMILITARY?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-08-29-17-06-13

(Short article, no more at link.)

[center]

Armando Alberto Pérez [/center]
Google translation:

Armando Alberto Pérez Betancourt was a retired Army captain and fleeing charges against him when he entered the Catatumbo Bloc, created in 1999 by Carlos and Vicente Castaño brothers to fight the ELN and control the drug trade in this part of North Santander.When the paramilitaries decided to enter this year Tibú Perez alias Betancur 'Buck' was in charge of transporting 200 paramilitary truck to start fighting with the guerrillas on 22 May 1999 Since then, 'Camilo' is He became the military leader of the Catatumbo and the right hand of Salvatore Mancuso, who took control of the area after Brown.
El Catatumbo Bloc consisted fronts La Barge, block Mobile Catatumbo and Frontera committee and was present in the municipalities of El Tarra, Hacarí, San Calixto, Teorama, Convention, El Carmen, Tibú Sardinata, Puerto Santander, El Zulia, Cúcuta, Chinacota, Pamplona and Rangonvalia, in the department of Norte de Santander.
'Buck' was the Front commander La Barge, composed of 800 men, and giving orders to other commanders as 'Mountains', 'The Iguano', 'Mauro' and 'El Gato', with whom committed massacres, disappearances, forced displacement, targeted killings and violence against women between 1999 and 2004.
According to the accounts of some demobilized paramilitaries remained the most time in the El Chorro del Indio, in the township of La Barge, protected by 20 bodyguards. He frequented the town and was traveling by helicopter.
demobilized Block on December 10, 2004, in the village of Campo Dos, Tibú (Norte de Santander), with 1,434 members and 1,115 weapons handed. Along with Vincent Brown, 'Camilo' left the Justice and Peace process and no one knows if he is alive.

Used Alias: Camilo, Omega or Hierarch.
structure. Bloque Catatumbo which was part of the North Block
Location: North of Santander: The Barge, Tiwu, Tarra, Cúcuta.
Victims assigned to Justice: The block has registered 8183 victims in the Information System of Justice and Peace (SIJYP)
Number of crimes confessed: In free version confessed 19 facts, including murder, escape prisoner and forced disappearance highlights.
Goods delivered: On his demobilization block delivered 1,114 Weapons (998 long, 71 short, 55 support), 287,444 rounds of ammunition of different calibers, 1,335 grenades, 200 portable radios, 11 vehicles, 2 boats, canoes 8, 15 engines, 45 mules, 19 livestock, 56 rural properties and about 105 plots used by the block as logistical support.
Known crimes: He ordered an inquiry into the death of a dispenser, the slaughter of the Barge and Tibú (1999)
Demobilization Date: December 10, 2004.
Status as of September 2010. Today is a fugitive from justice September 23, 2010

http://mqh02.wordpress.com/2010/09/23/criminales-profugos-alias-jerarca/

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Google translation:

Police started off Panama Armando Alberto Pérez Betancourt, alias 'Camilo', and with the support of the authorities of that country, was captured in a commercial area of ​​the city de Veraguas.

Intelligence work helped establish the exact place where the excabecilla Catatumbo Bloc of the AUC and routines that managed to avoid being discovered hiding. With that information the group of National Security Council of Panama stopped pursuant to a circular issued by Interpol red and left it available to Colombian investigators who sought a decade ago.

Against 'Camilo' there are 81 current arrest warrants for crimes including murder, enforced disappearance and other crimes against humanity, also has four executory sentences totaling 120 years in prison for his involvement in the massacres of Tibú and Barge, occurred between 1999 and 2000.

In the northwest of the country was regarded as "The Monster Catatumbo" because the command of 1,500 paramilitaries, killed at least 5,200 people and buried in mass graves on farms of Norte de Santander.

'Buck', second in the criminal structure of Catatumbo Bloc, after Salvatore Mancuso led the war thousands of paramilitary training in something called the school "Watercolor". From there he prepared his subordinates to armed incursions into the districts of La Union, February 11 and El Triunfo Tibú, in which 21 people were killed and 5 more wounded. It also imposed the familiar "torture chambers" used by the paramilitaries in several areas of the country, as a way to show their power and silencing alleged guerrilla collaborators.

"The Monster Catatumbo" had ordered his men to sexually abusing 39 women and undergo domestic work in the municipalities of La Barge, Campo Dos, El Tarra, Puerto Santander, Sardinata and some rural areas of Cúcuta. In this cruel practice have testified several former members of the AUC.

The former paramilitary demobilized in 2004 with the Catatumbo Bloc, linked to the process of justice and peace, and then to work for a year with justice, escaped from the concentration point in Ralito (Córdoba), and together brothers Miguel Angel and Victor Manuel Mejia Munera "The Twins", he formed the band "Los Nevados" and went on to control drug trafficking routes from the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta.

After neutralization of 'The Twins', alias 'Camilo' fled to Venezuela, and 4 years ago he moved to Panama, where he set up the facade builder, and began to show some eccentricities that caught the attention of the people. Although he never met a development project, the offender acquired luxury cars and lived in a luxurious home.

According to research by the National, Armando Alberto Pérez Betancourt, Police coordinated from abroad through-out with drugs, which were put up in the center of the country and traveled Eldorado Airport bound for Europe and Central America.

http://www.bluradio.com/74708/cayo-el-monstruo-de-catatumbo-paramilitar-que-lidero-mas-de-5-mil-asesinatos

[Louisiana1976]

1. Hope Perez is quickly brought to justice.

[Judi Lynn]

2. Thousands of his victims and their loved ones would surely agree with that, Louisiana! n/t

[The Magistrate]

3. They Seem To Be really Cleaning House, Ma'am

A pleasure to see.

[Judi Lynn]

5. It is amazing, considering how long these people have been doing business, hand over fist!

They used to have friends in all the high places.

[Judi Lynn]

4. Feared Colombia militia leader arrested

Feared Colombia militia leader arrested
Saturday, August 30, 2014 | 8:04 AM

BOGOTA, Colombia (AFP) - A former head of a feared Colombian militia that was linked to more than 5,000 murders and a spate of disappearances has been arrested in Panama, Colombian police said Friday.

Armando Perez, also known as Omega or Camilo, had been a leader of a bloc of right-wing paramilitary units and was hiding out in neighboring Panama, said Rodolfo Palomino, the Colombian National Police chief.

Perez, who was also wanted by Interpol, was finally snared in a joint operation between the two countries after four years on the run. They did not disclose when he was arrested.

"There are 81 current arrest warrants out for Perez for crimes including murder, forced disappearances and other crimes against humanity," Palomino said.

He was also being hunted for his involvement in "massacres" between 1999 and 2000 in Tibu and La Gabarra, both in northeastern Colombia.

Perez, also known as "the monster of Catatumbo," was active too in Panama, coordinating shipments of drugs from Colombia to Central America and Europe.

More:
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Feared-Colombia-militia-leader-arrested