Eight members of the Cali metropolitan police have been arrested after an investigation into the disappearances of two agents revealed the officers allegedly formed a band responsible for a wave of bank robberies this year.
The group, including one lieutenant, is charged with conspiracy to commit a crime and aggravated forced disappearance, in connection with the disappearances of agents Diego Fernando Garzón and Cristhian Javier Becerra, reports Caracol Radio.
A civilian was also captured on charges of belonging to the band, while two other suspected members, also police officers, remain at-large. All of the detained deny the charges.
“We are not going to permit that the institution converts into a den of criminals or a sanctuary for impunity, those who are shown to be involved in these malicious acts will be made available,” said commander of the Cali police force, general Gustavo Adolfo Ricaurte, according to Caracol Radio.
The arrests came about through the testimony of ‘Kiko’, a witness and former member of the band now under police protection, who has indicated that lieutenant Francisco Javier Parra Argüello, the chief of Cali’s anti-robbery unit who was killed last Monday, was also involved, reported El Tiempo.
The lieutenant gave orders and planned the disappearances of the two other police officers, who also appear to have been involved in the robberies.
