Arrested in Buenos Aires: key suspect in senator Uribe Turbay murder case
Brayan Ferney Cruz Castillo, accused of coordinating the logistics of the attack on senator Miguel Uribe Turbay, was detained on Tuesday in Buenos Aires by Interpol.
Interpol detains Buenos Aires suspect in attack on senator Uribe Turbay
An operation led by Interpol detained on Tuesday in Buenos Aires Colombian national Brayan Ferney Cruz Castillo, identified as one of those responsible for the logistics of the murder of senator and presidential candidate Miguel Uribe Turbay, carried out on 7 June 2025, according to elpais.com. Cruz Castillo was placed at the disposal of Argentine federal justice, pending a possible extradition process to Colombia.
The detainee was a fugitive with an international arrest warrant. Argentina's Ministry of Security specified that Cruz had "an extensive criminal record summarised in aggravated criminal conspiracy, terrorism, trafficking, manufacture and possession of firearms", and that "he installed an explosive device with a magnetic base in a vehicle". Argentine authorities identified that action as an "act of preparation" for the attack on the senator, based on information received from Colombian Interpol.
The Colombian prosecution clarified for its part that Cruz also prepared a failed attack against peace signatory Elkin de Jesús Gutiérrez Henao, a week before the Uribe Turbay murder and also in Bogotá. Although he ultimately desisted after finding police officers near the victim, he was prosecuted for the attempted attack.
The investigation in Argentina
The investigation on Argentine soil was conducted by the Fiscal Unit of Corrientes province. Since March, authorities had been investigating Cruz Castillo's possible entry into the country, based on official information sent by Colombia through the National Gendarmerie. The National Directorate of Immigration confirmed that the accused had a procedure in progress and was in an irregular situation, with a standing deportation order for a prior theft case in Buenos Aires.
Cruz Castillo was summoned on Tuesday to Buenos Aires courts because he had accepted an abbreviated trial in that proceeding for theft. It was there that he was detained again, this time linked to the attack on the vehicle in connection with the attack on the senator.
Three convictions and the Second Marquetalia hypothesis
The judicial process for the murder that shocked Colombia has already accumulated three convictions, handed down against members of the local criminal network in Bogotá that carried out the attack. The Colombian prosecution maintains that behind the operational group to which Cruz Castillo would belong was the so-called Segunda Marquetalia, the dissident faction of the defunct FARC led by alias Iván Márquez. According to that hypothesis, the former guerrilla commander, who took up arms again after the 2016 peace agreement, would be seeking to destabilise a country governed by the left for the first time in decades, although drug trafficking and other illegal economies remain disputed by various armed groups.
Cruz Castillo's role had appeared in previous judicial revelations. Under the orders of Simeón Pérez Marroquín, known as El Viejo, who maintained contact with Segunda Marquetalia, Cruz conducted surveillance of Uribe Turbay to learn his routines and his security arrangements.
The previous convictions
Cruz was the partner of Katherine Andrea Martínez, known as Gabriela, who transported the weapon with which a minor murdered the senator. Martínez, captured when she attempted to flee to Caquetá department, accepted responsibility and was sentenced to 21 years in prison last February.
Carlos Mora, alias El Veneco, who transported Martínez to the site of the attack, was also convicted. The same fate befell the teenage hitman, wounded when attempting to escape after shooting the right-wing politician and tried swiftly by Colombian justice.
Note: This information was updated with data from Colombian and Argentine authorities regarding the link between Cruz and the murder of Uribe Turbay.
Source: Google News AR — Buenos Aires