In a joint operation between the National Police, the Attorney General’s Office and the Military Forces, Oscar José Lemus Contreras, alias ‘Machetazo’, one of the leaders of the Mobile Column ‘Raúl Tovar’, was captured in a rural area of the municipality of Arauquita, Arauca. ‘ of the Domingo Laín Sáenz Front of the National Liberation Army (ELN).
During the raid and search of his home, located in the La Esmeralda district, ‘Machetazo’ tried to resist the authorities, wanting to use his gun, without taking into account that there were minors in the house.
The Special Police Commandos and investigators subdued the ELN guerrilla without using their weapons. 1,800 dollars, 13 million Colombian pesos, two pistols, two grenades, a carbine, suppliers, cartridges, five cell phones, a tablet and 35 Sim Cards were seized.
The authorities point out that ‘Machetazo’ was a high-value target for the Public Force, because he would have participated in several kidnappings of soldiers in the department of Arauca during 2023, such as that of the National Army non-commissioned officer Karina Ramírez, held together with her two minor children in the city of Arauca.
Also that of National Army Sergeant Libey Danilo Bravo, assigned to the Special Energy and Road Battalion. He was kidnapped by that armed group when he was in the urban area of the municipality of Arauquita, Arauca. According to investigations, he had been transferred against his will to Venezuela.
Finally, ‘Machetazo’ would have been involved in the kidnapping of Jennifer Arboleda, spouse of a National Army Officer. The victim was approached when she was traveling in a taxi in the Esmeralda – Arauquita sector and was then taken to Venezuela. Five days later she was handed over to the Ombudsman’s Office and the Catholic Church.
‘Machetazo’ has a 14-year criminal history in that guerrilla, where he is an expert in the handling of firearms and explosives.
He is currently wanted by Venezuela with a red Interpol circular for the homicide in September 2018 of Commissioner Edward Wilfredo Meza Berbesi, Head of the Scientific Criminal and Criminalistic Investigations Corps (CICPC), which occurred in the municipality of Guasdualito in the state of Apure.
On the other hand, ‘Machetazo’ would have been the ELN leader who ordered the mass massacre of 22 FARC dissidents, who were under the command of alias ‘Antonio Medina’, at the beginning of 2022. The bodies were abandoned in different roads. Arauca, a fact that triggered a war between both armed groups.
One of the crimes that the Prosecutor’s Office will accuse him of is the murder of four dissidents who were attacked with long-range weapons when they were traveling in a van in the municipality of Arauquita.
Source: Caracol Radio