Colombian sought for terrorism in Bogotá captured in Buenos Aires
Edwin Alfredo López Casteblanco, accused of the attack on the CAI police station in Arborizadora Alta in 2022, was detained in Villa Crespo with an Interpol red notice.
One of Bogotá's most-wanted men captured in Buenos Aires over terrorist attack
A 45-year-old Colombian citizen, Edwin Alfredo López Casteblanco, included on the list of six most-wanted fugitives in Bogotá, was captured in the Villa Crespo neighbourhood of Buenos Aires, according to elcolombiano.com.
A red notice from the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) had been issued against López Casteblanco for allegations of suspected homicide, injuries resulting in death, and firearms offences committed in Colombia.
Detention during operation for theft in flagrante delicto
Buenos Aires police officers intercepted López Casteblanco and a 54-year-old accomplice as both walked through the neighbourhood wearing headphones, signalling to each other and observing the interiors of parked vehicles. Upon searching a backpack carried by the Colombian, officers found a tablet belonging to a 26-year-old Argentine woman whose car had been forced open minutes earlier in the same area.
During the procedure, the detainee attempted to evade identification by using the false name of Jhon Freddy Cárdenas Castoblanco. The Interpol Division of the City Police established his true identity through background verification.
Accused of March 2022 attack in Ciudad Bolívar
López Casteblanco is accused of participating in the terrorist attack carried out in March 2022 against the Immediate Attention Command (CAI) police station in Arborizadora Alta, in the Bogotá locality of Ciudad Bolívar. The attack, attributed by investigators to front 33 of the Farc dissidents, left two minors dead—a five-year-old girl and Daniel Estiven Duque, aged 12—and more than 30 people wounded.
The wanted poster featuring López Casteblanco's image was circulated on 29 March 2022, following a security council chaired by then-president Iván Duque and Bogotá's former mayor Claudia López.
Extradition process underway
Buenos Aires judicial authorities ordered López Casteblanco to remain in detention and formalised the beginning of the extradition procedure, which will proceed in accordance with the international judicial cooperation agreements currently in force between Argentina and Colombia.
Source: Google News AR — Buenos Aires