Despite the fact that Pelaya is one of the municipalities with the greatest interference by groups outside the law, the inhabitants only have 12 police officers for preventive security work in the urban area and rural area of the municipality.
This was announced by the mayor of Pelaya, Alexis Quintero, who requested support from government authorities to improve security due to the two kidnappings that occurred recently in the municipality.
“This is a problem that I have been expressing since my administration and in the security councils carried out, we even ask at the departmental level for an increase in the foot of force, but the answer that they always give us is that there are not enough personnel to reinforce security. In the same way, we have had the same 12 police officers from 10 or 15 years ago, when the population was more or less around 10,000 inhabitants and now we are around 22,000 inhabitants, and the foot of force continues to be the same. ”, stated the president.
Added to this panorama is the limited presence in the area of the troops of the Tenth Brigade of the National Army, which has around seven municipalities in the department of Cesar under its care.
The deficiencies have been taken advantage of by criminal groups that in less than 24 hours committed two kidnappings in Pelaya. The first victim was Maira Quintero, kidnapped by some individuals on a motorcycle when she was jogging on a road in the rural area, and the second is the rancher Jesús del Carmen Quintero, kidnapped on his farm located in the village of Caño Sucio.
Regarding the citizens, the authorities still do not have clues to their whereabouts or identify the armed group that would be behind the events.
“We are asking for the support of the National and departmental Government because the situation we are currently experiencing in the municipality is worrying,” the mayor pointed out.
MEASURES
The municipal administration, as an immediate preventive measure, will order the restriction of hours of night public establishments and of the male barbecue at night in Pelaya.
The commander of the Cesar Police Department, Colonel Luis Exberto León Rodríguez, for his part, recently reported that they were going to analyze the security problems of the municipality with the Army and the Prosecutor’s Office in order to also find the whereabouts of the kidnapped.