Through a false labor services call, two people were victims of an alleged extortion kidnapping.
The timely denunciation and the quick action of the Huila Military Gaula (Anti-Extortion and Anti-Kidnapping Group), in coordination with the CTI (Technical Investigations Corps) of the department of Huila Sectional Prosecutor's Office, led to the thwarting of an extortion kidnapping in which two people were deceived through false labor services.
What started as an apparent job opportunity ended up becoming hours of anguish for a Huila family. On the morning of this March 18, 2026, a couple left on a motorcycle towards a sector of the municipality of Palermo, department of Huila, since the man was summoned for an alleged employment service.
Shortly after, a relative received calls and WhatsApp messages from a man who identified himself as alias Julián Martínez, who pretended to be the alleged ringleader of the FARC's Front 7, assuring that both people were kidnapped in a camp. To increase the pressure, he managed to get one of the victims to speak briefly, stating that he was fine, before starting the extortionist demands.
The criminal initially requested items for the illegal group and later cash. First, he demanded 9 million pesos and then reduced the sum to 700,000 pesos, making threats against the lives of the victims and setting a deadline of 09:30 in the morning to comply with the delivery.
After the denunciation and the advice provided to the family, the elite unit against kidnapping and extortion, together with its investigative component of the CTI, activated their resources of the military operation, deploying an inter-institutional reaction that managed to find and rescue the victims.
Thanks to the timely intervention of these specialized units, it was possible to thwart the extortion kidnapping and now units are working for the safe return of the couple, who would have been held from about 6:30 a.m. to 9:20 a.m.
This result reflects the importance of citizen denunciation, as well as the training, the reaction capacity and the effectiveness of the military operation of the Gaula (Anti-Extortion and Anti-Kidnapping Group), prepared to act quickly in the face of any threat to personal freedom.
The Huila Military Gaula calls on people to carefully verify any labor services, especially those that involve transfers to remote places or non-formalized contacts. In the same way, it invites to immediately report any suspicious call, threat or monetary demand through the national toll-free line 147, available 24 hours a day.
Source: Press - Fifth Division
