Three San Juan police officers under investigation for $6 million theft in illegal raid in Ullum
Three agents from the Western Investigations Brigade are under investigation for breaking into a residence in Ullum and stealing $6,000,000. The vehicle used belonged to the San Juan Police.
Scandal in San Juan Police: officers under investigation for million-peso theft in Ullum
Three San Juan police officers are under scrutiny by the judiciary for the alleged theft of six million pesos during an illegal raid in Ullum, according to tiempodesanjuan.com. The officers under investigation are believed to belong to the Western Investigations Brigade, a unit whose entire staff was removed by the Police Department leadership.
The incident occurred on Monday, 2 November, mid-morning. An elderly man who was at his home on Route 60 s/n, in Ullum, observed several plain-clothes individuals climbing over the shared wall and entering his property. When he went out to confront them, the men—who were carrying pistols—told him they were police officers conducting a search procedure for firearms.
The visitors went through all the rooms in the house and searched the furniture. Upon leaving, they assured the homeowner that they had found nothing and that he should remain calm. It was then that the man discovered that the $6,000,000 he had kept in a piece of furniture had been taken.
The licence plate identified the police vehicle
A relative who lives across from the residence also observed the intruders leaving and recognised the car: a grey Renault Logan. The homeowner had noted the vehicle's licence plate before they departed. That same day they filed a complaint at the 15th Police Station for a possible assault by fake police officers.
The surprise came when the information was cross-checked: the licence plate on record corresponded to a vehicle assigned to the San Juan Police, specifically to the Western Investigations Brigade. Faced with evidence of possible police involvement, the coordinators of the Property Crimes Task Force referred the case to prosecutor Iván Grassi, of the Special Crimes Task Force.
Raid on the Brigade headquarters and seizure of mobile phones
Last Friday, Grassi led a raid on the headquarters of the Western Investigations Brigade, located in La Bebida, Rivadavia. During the operation they seized the duty log from that unit and the mobile telephones of all officers under suspicion.
According to the media's investigation, there would be evidence that some members of that department were in the Ullum and Zonda area on the day of the incident. The case is proceeding with tight secrecy in the Special Crimes Task Force: the names of the accused have not been made public, although they have been identified. No arrests have been made so far.
Administrative proceedings and removal of all personnel
On the internal level, the San Juan Police Department opened administrative proceedings and ordered the transfer of the chief of the Western Investigations Brigade and all of his staff. The institution issued no official statement on the matter until the close of this article.
The judicial investigation and the administrative proceedings are running in parallel, amid a veil of silence that, according to tiempodesanjuan.com, reflects the seriousness with which authorities are treating the case.
Source: Google News PR — San Juan