Colombia’s prison authority said Monday it has thwarted a prison break by high-profile drug trafficking suspects in the northeast of the country.
According to prison authority INPEC, two imprisoned drug traffickers allegedly bribed six prison guards from the maximum security prison in the town of Giron, Santander to help them escape.
Camilo Torres, alias “Fritanga”, and Andres Arroyabe, alias “The Machine”, reportedly offered six guards “large sums of money” but one refused and alerted authorities who subsequently transferred the narcotraffickers to different prisons. Fritanga has been moved to a prison in Valledupar and The Machine was transferred to a high-security ward in Picaleña near Ibague.
As a result of this stymied escape, INPEC has decided that high-security prisoners will now be constantly moved between prisons and the guards in charge of watching them will be changed every 15 days.
The guards implicated in the proposed escape were removed from duty and could face criminal charges after a full investigation is concluded.
Fritanga, one of the top commanders of neo-paramilitary group the Urabeños, was arrested in July while throwing a lavish party in the Caribbean to celebrate his wedding. Arroyabe was arrested in March and is accused of being one of the Urabeños’ arms providers.
