The Attorney General’s Office managed to dismantle a criminal structure accused of being behind a series of homicides and violent events recorded in the municipality of Soacha, Cundinamarca. This is the criminal group known as ‘Los Vida Nueva’, whose alleged members would be involved in at least six murders and in the control of local drug trafficking in Commune 2.
According to the investigation, 12 people were prosecuted, including two men identified as the alleged leaders of the organization: Esteban Romero, alias ‘El Gato’, and Jairo Valle, alias ‘Cachaco’, the latter being held in a prison center for other judicial processes. Despite his status as a prisoner, alias ‘Cachaco’ would have continued directing criminal activities and ordering homicides from prison.
According to the Prosecutor’s Office, both noted leaders would be responsible for supplying firearms and coordinating the murders, within the framework of a dispute over the control of drug sales in the sector. The group’s illicit activities have intensified since October 2024, generating an escalation of violence in the area.
The authorities also established that the criminal structure would have instrumentalized minors, using them for transportation, distribution and surveillance of points of sale of hallucinogenic substances, which aggravated the public order situation in the commune.
Among the other defendants are Jorge Ramírez, Jhoan Gaitán, Andrés Cante, Lubin Rodríguez, Gerardo Palacios, Joan Ramírez, Carlos Polo, Sebastián de la Hoz, José Ordoñez and Jhon López, who, according to the prosecutor, would fulfill roles as drug dealers and hitmen within the organization.
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In addition to the six homicides committed between 2024 and 2025, the alleged members of ‘Los Vida Nueva’ are attributed with four hitman attacks in which the victims managed to survive the armed attacks.
For these events, a prosecutor from the Cundinamarca Section charged those captured, in accordance with their alleged individual responsibility, with the crimes of aggravated homicide, attempted homicide, conspiracy to commit a crime, manufacturing, trafficking, carrying or possession of firearms, manufacturing, trafficking and carrying of narcotics, as well as use of minors to commit crimes. None of the defendants accepted the charges.
A guarantee control judge imposed a security measure on them in a prison, while the stages of the judicial process progress.
The arrests were made during search and search procedures carried out in different parts of Soacha. In the operations, the authorities seized four firearms, 24 38 caliber cartridges, about a kilo and a half of coca base, 739 bazooka capsules, five cell phones and a vehicle, elements that would have been used for the development of criminal activities.
The Prosecutor’s Office pointed out that these actions are part of the strategy to combat criminal structures that affect security and coexistence in the municipality.
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