The Paraguayan prosecutor, Marcelo Pecci, in an image shared on his social networks.RR.
H.H.
The last hours of life of Paraguayan prosecutor Marcelo Pecci on the island of Barú, in the Colombian Caribbean, seemed like a dream.
Through social networks, his wife, the journalist Claudia Aguilera, had published one last photo in which the couple was seen celebrating their pregnancy.
"The best wedding gift is life bringing you closer to the most beautiful testimony of love," Aguilera wrote.
The responses to the message were confused between congratulations and condolences when the news of the murder of the prosecutor began to circulate.
From Cartagena, the police confirmed that this Wednesday morning the prosecutor was shot three times while he was on the beach.
She was unharmed.
Pecci was a Specialized Prosecutor against Organized Crime in Paraguay and was in charge of several of the most important drug trafficking and money laundering cases in that country.
One of the best known was the one in San Bernardino, in which a model and an alleged criminal were murdered at a cumbia concert that brought together more than 20,000 people.
Pecci was also behind the investigation of Operative Extreme Py, which left several arrested for international drug trafficking and the murder of businessman Mauricio Schwartzman, to whom the prosecutor had publicly referred.
The Director General of the Colombian Police, General Jorge Luis Vargas Valencia, announced the dispatch of five investigators from the homicide team at the central level of the criminal investigation department.
"I made personal contact with the assistants of the attorney general of Paraguay," said Vargas, who assured that the investigation will be supported by the United States.
"We already have information collected in the urgent acts and that are of a reserved nature that will help us identify those responsible for this unfortunate event," he added.
President Mario Abdo Benítez lamented the murder through his Twitter account.
“The cowardly murder of prosecutor Marcelo Pecci in Colombia mourns the entire Paraguayan nation.
We condemn this tragic event in the strongest terms and redouble our commitment to fight against organized crime.
Our sincere condolences to their families."
Pecci was recognized by journalists and colleagues as an honest prosecutor, something unusual in Paraguay, where the judiciary and prosecutors are highly corrupted.
According to the International Transparency Corruption Self-Perception Index, Paraguay is the second most corrupt country in South America, only behind Venezuela.
Paraguay is also the largest marijuana producer in the region, and the largest cocaine corridor from Bolivia to Europe.
The ties between drug trafficking and the Colorado party, in government for more than 70 years, are very close.
A month ago, a pro-government deputy was dismissed and investigated for drug trafficking and money laundering after audios were leaked negotiating shipments and bribes.
Bolivian coca is mixed in Paraguay with illegal chemical precursors in other countries.
It is then hidden in trucks and shipping containers to be transported to Africa and Europe.
Cape Verde and Rotterdam are the main ports of destination according to the Paraguayan anti-drug secretary (Senad).
