- The US State Department is offering a $5 million reward for information leading to Marcelo Pecci’s killer.
- Pecci, a paraguayan organized crime prosecutor, was murdered in Colombia while on his honeymoon.
- The Colombian authorities have identified six co-conspirators in the killing and five have been arrested.
The US State Department is looking for information that will help identify or apprehend those responsible for the murder of Marcelo Pecci.
Earlier this year, Marcelo Pecci, a paraguayan organized crime prosecutor, was murdered in Colombia while on his honeymoon. The United States has announced a $5 million reward for information leading to his killer.
The US Department of State stated that it was looking for evidence that might result in the capture or conviction of any conspirators, “including those responsible for financing and directing the assassination,” in a statement released on Thursday.
Pecci was fatally shot while relaxing on a beach on Colombia’s tourist island of Baru on May 10, just days after his wedding, in what Paraguay’s president denounced at the time as a “cowardly murder”.
The Colombian authorities have identified six co-conspirators in the killing and five have been arrested, the Department of State said, adding that Thursday’s reward aimed to find anyone else who may have been involved.
The announcement comes five months after a Colombian judge sentenced four of those involved in the killing to 23 years in prison, with a fifth awaiting trial.
The US State Department is looking for information that will help identify or apprehend those responsible for the murder of Marcelo Pecci.
Earlier this year, Marcelo Pecci, a paraguayan organized crime prosecutor, was murdered in Colombia while on his honeymoon. The United States has announced a $5 million reward for information leading to his killer.
The US Department of State stated that it was looking for evidence that might result in the capture or conviction of any conspirators, “including those responsible for financing and directing the assassination,” in a statement released on Thursday.
As they arrived and fled by water, Pecci’s attackers shot him twice while he was on the beach.
The 45-year-old has expertise in organized crime, drug trafficking, financial crimes, and “funding of terrorism.”
He also oversaw an operation that resulted in the arrest of about 30 persons earlier this year and the confiscation of numerous assets obtained through money laundering.
The US ambassador in Asuncion, Marc Ostfield, told reporters on Thursday that “the assassination of prosecutor Pecci was a direct attack on the rule of law in Paraguay”.
“The United States stands with the Paraguayan people and against those who seek to harm those who heroically work in public service,” Ostfield said.
As part of two reward programs aimed at combating transnational crime and drugs, respectively, the Department of State has distributed more than $155 million.
Since the NRP was established in 1986, the department claimed that the programs have led to the arrest of more than 75 “transnational criminals and major narcotics traffickers.”
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