Thanks to the coordinated operation conducted by the Military Gaula (Anti-Extortion and Anti-Kidnapping Group) and the CTI (Technical Investigations Corps) of the Prosecutor's Office, a four-year-old minor in Villavicencio returned to his home. So far this year, there are already 1,592 results against extortion and kidnapping.
The mother's timely denunciation to the Military Gaula (Anti-Extortion and Anti-Kidnapping Group) of Meta made it possible for the respective investigations to be carried out to find the whereabouts of the minor; the kidnapping was apparently perpetrated by a 33-year-old relative.
The individual would plan to establish a romantic relationship with the minor's mother, who refused. As she said, “he kidnapped the boy so that she would agree to have sexual intercourse.” The arrested man was put into custody of the Prosecutor's Office 3 Specialized - Gaula (Anti-Extortion and Anti-Kidnapping Group), for the crime of simple kidnapping.
The differential operations of the Military Gaula (Anti-Extortion and Anti-Kidnapping Group), as an elite group of the Military Forces, together with the Gaula of the Police, the Attorney General's Office, the Government and regional authorities, have had a decisive impact on crimes that attack personal freedom, thus protecting human dignity and contributing to peace so that Colombians can live without fear.
During 2022, the Meta and Ariari military Gaula have identified and acted to face different modalities of extortion and kidnapping in the Colombian southeast, which has led people to stop paying more than 2,400 million pesos for these crimes, in addition to having made the arrest of 223 people for extortion and simple kidnapping and 1,369 for extortion.
It should be noted that 10 rescues of kidnapped people and 41 releases under pressure of the troops have in the same way been conducted. 94 criminal groups have been dismantled for extortion and kidnapping, and 166 short-range weapons have been found.
To the Fourth Division of the Army, it is important to speak about the most frequent modalities and alert people so that they do not become victims of these crimes. The military Gaula (Anti-Extortion and Anti-Kidnapping Group) have identified that the most common are by telephone calls made from prisons, in which victims are intimidated with verbal threats against their life.
Another modality is when criminals make calls to request a service, deceiving the victims and summoning them, usually in remote areas to demand large sums of money for their release.
This is complemented by sexting, considered a cybercrime, which consists of intimidating victims by threatening them with publishing intimate photographs and videos that are obtained illegally or out of overconfidence.
Source: Press - National Army
