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Police in Colombia
Photo Credit: IMAGO/Sebastian Barros/ IMAGO/ZUMA Wire
A court in Cartagena, Colombia, has convicted four people in connection with the murder of a prominent Paraguayan mafia investigator.
The three men and one woman were each sentenced to 23 years and six months in prison.
It was originally 47 years in prison, but after the defendants largely admitted the allegations, the sentences were reduced by half, local media reported on Friday, citing legal circles.
The alleged mastermind behind the assassination, however, declared himself innocent – his trial is continuing.
Paraguayan mafia investigator Marcelo Pecci was shot dead in May while on his honeymoon on the Barú peninsula near the port city of Cartagena in Colombia.
The attackers approached Pecci and his wife on jet skis while they were walking along the beach and fired at least three shots at the prosecutor.
Pecci's wife had recently announced on social networks that she was expecting a child.
Pecci was one of the lead prosecutors in a major drug trafficking and money laundering case against crime syndicates in the South American country.
A number of criminal organizations are active in Paraguay.
A record drug find in the port of Hamburg in February last year also had a connection to Paraguay: around 16 tons of cocaine had been shipped from Paraguay to Germany in containers.
bbr/dpa
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