Alias 'Tito', accused of kidnapping and homicide, escapes with armed men from clinic in Pasto
Armed men stormed the Clínica Fátima in Pasto and took Luis Alberto Villota Rodríguez, alias Tito, being investigated by the ELN.
Armed escape at Clínica Fátima: alias Tito is rescued by armed men in Pasto
According to noticiascaracol.com, armed men stormed the Clínica Fátima in the city of Pasto on the evening of Friday, 5 June, at approximately 9:30 p.m., and took Luis Alberto Villota Rodríguez, known as alias Tito, charged with rebellion, simple kidnapping and homicide of a protected person.
The National Institute of Prisons and Penitentiaries (INPEC) confirmed the incident through an official statement. "Armed men stormed the facilities of the Clínica Fátima in the city of Pasto and proceeded to take away, under the modality of a rescue, the person deprived of liberty Luis Alberto Villota Rodríguez," the agency stated in its news bulletin.
During the operation, the clinic's security guard and the officer from the Custody and Surveillance Body in charge of the detainee's security were stripped of their weapons. INPEC clarified that none of those affected were injured.
Following the escape, prison, judicial and police authorities activated a joint operation to achieve the recapture of Villota Rodríguez and the identification of those responsible for the armed incursion.
Links with the ELN and appointment as peace facilitator
Villota Rodríguez had entered the Medium Security Prison and Penitentiary of Pasto on 26 February 2026, as part of a judicial proceeding under the jurisdiction of the Municipal Criminal Court of Pasto. His capture was the result of an investigation by the Prosecutor General's Office, which identified him as the alleged leader of the Communards of the South Front, of the Jaime Toño Obando sub-structure of the ELN.
Nevertheless, through Resolution 451 of 8 November 2024, the national Government had appointed him as a peace facilitator along with eight other people. This recognition was extended through Resolution 043 of 6 February 2026, so that he could continue supporting the structuring of the peace process with the Communards of the South in the department of Nariño.
Charges: 13 kidnapped, four dead and attacks against social leaders
On 23 February 2026, the Prosecutor's Office reported that alias Tito would be involved in multiple criminal acts in different areas of Nariño, directed against the civilian population and social leaders.
Among the facts attributed to him is the kidnapping of 13 people on 29 December 2023 in the village of Tabiles. According to the investigating body, the victims were detained by members of an illegal armed structure, subjected to intimidation and degrading treatment for not having an alleged safe passage required by the group to move about in certain areas.
Four of those people were subsequently murdered, including community leader and human rights defender Martha Yolanda Benavides and a 17-year-old adolescent. The bodies were found in different municipalities in the department.
The Prosecutor's Office also linked Villota Rodríguez to an incident that occurred on 9 October 2023 on the road connecting Túquerres with Samaniego, where three citizens were intercepted by armed members of the Communards of the South Front. Two of them regained their freedom; a woman was murdered.
A prosecutor from the Special Investigation Unit charged him with the crimes of homicide of a protected person, aggravated homicide, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated forced displacement, torture of a protected person and rebellion. Villota Rodríguez did not accept the charges, and a judge of guarantees ordered his detention in a prison facility.
Authorities continue search efforts for both the charged individual and those responsible for the armed incursion that enabled his escape from the healthcare facility in Pasto.
Source: Google News BO — La Paz