U.S., Colombia, Paraguay investigate jet-ski assassination of anti-drug prosecutor Marcelo Pecci

Colombia, Paraguay, and the United States are investigating the murder of anti-drug prosecutor Marcelo Pecci in Cartagena, who was on his honeymoon with his wife, journalist Claudia Aguilera.

The president of Paraguay, Mario Abdo Benítez, regretted the incident and announced a joint investigation with Colombia and the U.S. to clarify the murder of the Paraguayan prosecutor. Colombian President Iván Duque "promised to give us all his support to look for those responsible. Also the American government," he declared.

U.S. Ambassador to Paraguay Marc Ostfield expressed his condolences for the prosecutor's murder. "More than ever we will strengthen our work together to confront organized crime in Paraguay and the hemisphere," the diplomat said in a tweet. "This unfortunate event saddens our nations," reported El Comercio.

Pecci was a prosecutor with the Specialized Unit to Fight Organized Crime. He headed several important cases, among them the "A ultranza" operation, the largest operation against cocaine trafficking in Paraguay, "which led to the seizure of dozens of money-laundered properties and the arrest of some thirty people this year," reported AFP.

The Paraguayan prosecutor, 45 years old, was murdered on Tuesday on Baru Island, in Cartagena de Indias, in front of his wife, television reporter Claudia Aguilera, whom he had married on April 30.

Murder hypotheses

An elite group of investigators from Colombia, Paraguay, and the U.S. have several hypotheses about Pecci’s murder. Images released of the alleged hitman point to a man of about 1.70 meters tall, with dark skin, and black clothing, according to police.

According to the authorities, the individual and his accomplice had arrived on jet skis to the island of Baru, where the Paraguayan prosecutor and his wife were. They shot him several times, leading to his death.

La labor articulada de la Fiscalía General de la Nación y la @PoliciaColombia permitió obtener la imagen de uno de los presuntos autores del homicidio del Fiscal de Paraguay Marcelo Pecci. El trabajo investigativo continúa. pic.twitter.com/Id5L9ypAan

— Fiscalía Colombia (@FiscaliaCol) May 10, 2022

The first hypothesis is that the assassins pursued the prosecutor from the moment he left Paraguay until he arrived in Colombia. Agents from the Directorate of Criminal Investigation and Interpol (Dijin) and the DEA are investigating the list of people who traveled on the same plane as Pecci, reported El País.

The second possibility is related to the fact that the assassins were allegedly hired in Colombia to arrive by sea to the island where the prosecutor was and assassinate him.

The Colombian radio station La FM revealed the testimony of people who were at the scene of the crime, who claimed that the alleged perpetrators rented the jet ski for 200,000 Colombian pesos (USD $50) and used it for about 16 minutes.

The director of the Police in Colombia, General Jorge Vargas, claimed that the murderers might still be in Colombia. According to him, the subjects could be receiving indications from other countries.

"Las primeras 72 horas son vitales porque el homicida no se ha movido o porque la organización está dándole órdenes o le están girando dinero. Es un estándar internacional, estas horas las estamos manejando con mucho cuidado para poder avanzar e identificar a los autores materiales en Colombia, pero también a los intelectuales en cualquier parte del mundo que estén", aseveró.

Although the authorities have not revealed further details about who was involved in the prosecutor's murder, Colombian media Semana reported that they are verifying the possible link between the Clan del Golfo and the crime.

Investigators are gathering evidence to corroborate or rule out whether the drug trafficking group provided some kind of "criminal service," such as hiring hitmen to carry out the murder, the newspaper reported.

So far, authorities are hoping to find the criminals, with the photo of the subject seen in the video and a $2,000 million reward for information leading to his capture.