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Marcelo Pecci speaking to the press in 2020
Photo: JORGE ADORNO / REUTERS
A serious blow to the security authorities in Paraguay: Marcelo Pecci, the prosecutor responsible for fighting drug-related crime, was shot dead on his honeymoon in Colombia.
Pecci was killed on a Caribbean island while on his honeymoon, Colombia's police chief Jorge Luis Vargas said Tuesday, calling it "murder."
Five investigators were sent to the island of Barú.
They are to receive support from experts from Paraguay and the USA.
Pecci married journalist Claudia Aguilera in Cartagena, Colombia, at the end of April.
The two were therefore on the private beach of a luxury hotel, surrounded by other tourists.
Aguilera told radio station W that "two men arrived on a boat and started shooting."
The perpetrators fled.
A security guard rushing to help was also shot at.
Couple apparently expecting offspring
Her husband had not previously received any threats, Aguilera said.
In the last photo published on the Instagram image platform, the couple was seen entwined on the beach.
Baby shoes could be seen in the foreground, indicating that the newlyweds were expecting a child.
A colleague confirmed this to a Colombian radio station.
According to the hotel, the "murderers came to the beach on a jet ski."
The Colombian police released the photo of one of the alleged killers in black Bermuda shorts and with a beige Panama hat on his head.
According to police chief Vargas, Colombia and Paraguay are cooperating with the US drug agency DEA in the investigation.
Police announced a $488,000 reward for information leading to the killers' capture.
Paraguay's president castigates "cowardly" act
Paraguay's President Mario Abdo Benítez condemned the act "in the strongest terms".
The whole country mourns "the cowardly murdered prosecutor Marcelo Pecci," wrote Abdo Benítez on Twitter.
He announced that he would step up the fight against organized crime.
His Colombian colleague Iván Duque made a similar statement.
Pecci was also known for his involvement in the investigation that put soccer player Ronaldinho behind bars between March and August 2020 for entering Paraguay with forged documents.
Colombia is the world's largest producer of cocaine, while Paraguay has become an important transshipment point for drugs to Europe.
fek/AFP
