In the municipality of Valledupar, uncertainty and fear reign over the possible criminal actions of José Manuel Vera, alias ‘Satanás’, who was interned since Sunday in the High and Medium Security Penitentiary of Valledupar, known as ‘La Tramacúa’, after being transferred from the Girón prison, Santander.
The transfer has caused a great stir and rejection from the local authorities, such is the case of the mayor of Valledupar Ernesto Orozco, who indicated: “As the first municipal authority I was not notified of this transfer, we were surprised by the news and although the Inpec at the level national assured that they should not consult him due to his autonomy, the situation is of extreme concern.”
“We have done hard work to improve the security of the city since we came to office, but if a criminal structure like this (Aragua Train) comes to us it will be a hard blow for the city,” highlighted Orozco Durán, who requested support to the government led by President Gustavo Petro, to the director of the National Police, General Guillermo Salamanca Ramírez, as well as to the Inpec directives to socialize this type of decisions with the municipal administration.
Orozco warned that today there is overcrowding in the Valledupar Judicial Prison, which has capacity for 256 inmates and has 576 at the moment, while the Permanent Station houses 800% overcrowding. He also warned of the limited capacity of the city’s forces to ensure the safety of the inhabitants.
Regarding results in his first days of work on the Security Plan for the 100 days of government, the Mayor of Valledupar, together with the National Police, have worked on the capture of 25 people for different crimes: 13 vehicles were recovered: three firearms without a permit, 11 traumatic weapons; and imposed 143 summonses.
He added that Valledupar currently has 400 police officers for more than 500 thousand inhabitants, so an increase in force is necessary to provide security guarantees to citizens.
For her part, the governor of Cesar, Elvia Milena Sanjuán, stated “El Cesar should not continue as a wild card in the Colombian prison system. By sending alias Satan to Valledupar, they are condemning us to other criminals from El Tren de Aragua coming to the city with their criminal actions.”
Eduardo Esquivel, Secretary of the Departmental Government, announced that the Cesar government will express this rejection to the Ministries of Defense and the Interior, with notification to Inpec, since “we are advancing a security strategy to recover areas where there are people from the Clan del Golfo and criminals dedicated to micro-trafficking, and the response they give us is sending a criminal, and for this reason we will make a rejection note to request alias Satan be transferred from the department.”
Through his account on anxiety and violence, as happened in Bogotá and other cities. “We will join forces!”