Witness says he heard Leandro Norero speak with Rafael Correa by video call

Marcelo Lasso Saavedra was a cellmate of drug trafficker Leandro Norero (‘El Patrón’) in the Cotopaxi prison.

Lasso said that he was an active part of the dialogues for the pacification of the prisons carried out by a commission created by former president Guillermo Lasso. His connection was Commissioner Claudia Garzón, also prosecuted in this case.

According to Lasso, Norero communicated through the Threema application with the leaders of the criminal gangs alias Pipo, alias Willy, alias Choclo, alias Junior; with former Correísta legislator Ronny Aleaga, who had been Latin King and was the contact with the current leaders; with Daniel Salcedo and Xavier Jordán, also prosecuted in the case.

Lasso Saavedra said he had seen the face and heard the voice of Rafael Correa during the video calls. The former president’s username was “RC5.”

Glas’s freedom

In the conversations, Correa and Norero talked about the freedom of the former vice president of the Republic Jorge Glas. “They talked more than anything about the freedom of Mr. Jorge Glas,” said Lasso. “Leandro and Daniel Salcedo were investing in the freedom of Mr. Jorge Glas for political purposes, because they knew that he could eventually gain strength, that he would once again have a political position and they knew that he would serve them.”

Attorney General Diana Salazar asked him how he knew it was Correa. Lasso replied that she had seen him through video calls because he was always in Norero’s cell.

“He referred to Correa as Mashi,” he said.

The former president, who is currently a fugitive from Justice in Europe, reacted to the testimony on the social network (YO)