Brothers arrested in Montero for theft of 30 motorcycles sent to Cochabamba's Tropics region
Police captured José Carlos Cuéllar Cosío and Dana Torrez Cuéllar in Montero following months of investigation into commissioned motorcycle theft. A badge belonging to a discharged former lieutenant was found in their residence.
Montero arrests duo of family members who stole motorcycles to order and trafficked them to Cochabamba
Two brothers identified as José Carlos Cuéllar Cosío and Dana Torrez Cuéllar were apprehended on Sunday, 2 November in the municipality of Montero, north of Santa Cruz, following a police intelligence investigation that began in September. According to El Deber, the pair operated by stealing motorcycles to order and sent them to the Tropics region of Cochabamba for delivery to third parties.
The departmental director of Diprove, colonel José Vásquez Guarachi, explained that the case was activated on 27 September when the brothers intercepted a man who had dismounted from his motorcycle. "The two subjects intercept the motorcyclist, strike him on the head and point a firearm at him in order to steal his motorcycle," the police chief stated. The victim was returning home following a social event when he was attacked.
From that report onwards, police accumulated evidence over more than a month until locating the suspects. They were intercepted whilst riding a motorcycle without a licence plate. "An arrest was made in flagrante delicto and we entered one of their residences where we found different devices used for motorcycle theft," said Vásquez Guarachi.
Among the objects seized from the property were master keys, a registration plate, bladed weapons, spectacles and caps. The most striking discovery, according to the director of Diprove, was a police uniform with the rank of lieutenant and an identification badge in the name of Richard Jiménez Gutiérrez. "The badge belongs to a former lieutenant who was discharged on 11 October 2016," the colonel stated. The former official had a record of extortion, destruction of state property, theft, improper use of influence and aggravated robbery, and was arrested in recent hours.
Analysis of the mobile phones of those detained revealed the mechanics of the criminal business. "By breaking down the cellular phones, we found a multitude of messages in which it was detailed that the thefts were carried out to order. Everything was detailed from the model, brand and even the year of the motorcycle that they had to steal to send them to the Tropics region of Cochabamba," explained the police chief.
Dana Torrez Cuéllar confessed to officers that during this year alone the gang stole at least 30 motorcycles. Police are investigating other alleged accomplices and confirmed that the Cuéllar brothers form part of a criminal structure of a family nature that operated in the northern zone of the department, with activity recorded in Warnes, Montero and Yapacaní.
Source: El Deber