Murder of key witness in Pecci case reveals extent of criminal reach between Colombia and Paraguay
The death of Luis Correa Galeano, principal witness to the assassination of Paraguayan prosecutor Marcelo Pecci, exposes transnational crime's penetration in Colombia.
Death of witness at La Picota deepens mystery over who ordered Pecci killed
The death of Luis Correa Galeano at the La Picota prison in Bogotá on 3 January 2026 revived doubts about the criminal network that in 2022 executed Paraguayan prosecutor Marcelo Pecci in Colombia. According to infobae.com, the specialist outlet InSight Crime published a report titled "From Paraguay to Colombia: The deadly reach of transnational crime", which details the connections between the two countries surrounding that crime.
Pecci was assassinated on 10 May 2022 while on honeymoon in Colombian territory. Four years later, the material executors of the plan have already been captured and some have received sentences; however, the identity of who ordered the assassination remains unclear.
Correa Galeano was the link that could have changed that. The Colombian Prosecutor's Office identified him as responsible for logistics and delivery of the weapons used in the crime. He was negotiating with justice a reduction of sentence in exchange for providing key names about Pecci's assassination, when he died in an alleged prison brawl.
Following his death, authorities found in his cell a notebook with names of several people prosecuted for drug trafficking and money laundering in Paraguay. Among the most prominent were Miguel Ángel Insfrán Galeano and Sebastián Marset, identified leaders of drug trafficking linked to investigations that Pecci himself headed on capital laundering in that country.
For InSight Crime, the murder of Correa Galeano constitutes a direct message to the other participants in the crime still living.
The investigation into the death of the witness involves at least five officials from the National Penitentiary and Prison Institute (Inpec). The director of that entity announced an internal investigation is underway in this regard. InSight Crime's analysis further indicates that in recent years it was identified that at least seven Inpec officials, along with relatives of inmates, were part of a corruption network that facilitated the entry of goods and materials to La Picota. That network would have also allowed the entry of the weapons with which the witness was killed.
Francisco Bernate, defence lawyer for Correa Galeano, claimed his client had already received threats before being assassinated. "We had warned the authorities about the danger this person faced and no precautions were taken. On the contrary, from being in the Prosecutor's bunker, he was transferred to a common penitentiary where they murdered him," Bernate stated. The confessed murderer of Correa, for his part, claimed to have no knowledge of the crimes the victim would have committed before the alleged brawl.
The report also traces the historical evolution of the criminal link between the two countries. In 2000, authorities from Paraguay and Colombia jointly investigated the training that members of the Paraguayan People's Army (EPP) received from the now-defunct FARC-EP in kidnapping tactics and use of explosives. What was then an ideological-military connection would have transformed into a criminal arrangement oriented towards drug trafficking and asset laundering.
InSight Crime further warns that actors from other continents would have participated in this plot, applying a tactic typical of Italian organised crime: silencing those who could provide information about the original crime. The elimination of Correa Galeano would fit that pattern.
The question of who ordered Pecci's assassination remains open. With the death of the principal witness and the notebook of names now in the hands of justice, the case faces simultaneously its greatest loss and one of its most relevant leads.
Source: Google News PY — Crime