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Escort of the President, arrested for links to drug trafficking
Posted On 19 Apr 2018
Ecuadornews:
Christian Heriberto R. S., second sergeant of the Navy in active service, is being detained as a suspect in a network of drug traffickers. This Wednesday, April 18, it was revealed that he was a member of the group that offers protection to the President of the Republic, Lenin Moreno.
In an interview for two Colombian media and CNN, the president confirmed that a member of his presidential escort would be involved with drug trafficking.
Everything goes back to the operation “Impacto 135”, carried out on April 12, in which a criminal organization that was associated for the distribution of drugs for the internal consumption of sectors of the south and northwest of Guayaquil, was dismantled. There, 20 people were arrested.
That day, the authorities were already reporting that among those apprehended were active and passive members of the National Navy. In a press conference they detailed that “the marijuana was brought in trucks of load from the province of Esmeraldas and that each one of the detainees fulfilled specific roles within the organization”.
The active and passive members of the Navy, according to the police authorities, “were responsible for providing security on the drug route.”
However, the apprehension of Cristian Heriberto R. S. occurred on April 14, outside a hotel in downtown Guayaquil, in a continuation of the operation “Impacto 135”, according to a police report.
The arrest was not given on April 12, because he “was in commission in Peru, providing services as a presidential escort.” That day, President Lenin Moreno traveled to Lima for the Summit of the Americas, from which he later excused himself to return to Ecuador, once he learned of the murder of the kidnapped journalists.
The police report indicates that Christian Heriberto R. S. had within the criminal organization the role of giving “security in the transfer of alkaloid and other crimes such as home burglaries.”
Pedro Mosquera, head of Presidential Protection, confirmed to the Ecuavisa channel that Christian Heriberto R. S. had been serving as a member of the group that provides security to President Moreno, “since May of last year.”
He also confirmed the arrest and that administrative actions were taken internally. The case is under preliminary investigation by the Prosecutor’s Office. (I)
