16 November 2023 , 23:00
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The alleged kidnappers of Liverpool star Luis Diaz ’s father were told to stop laughing by a furious state prosecutor when they appeared before a judge on Thursday.
The suspects were filmed sniggering as they protested their innocence during a hearing to decide whether they should be remanded in jail pending an ongoing criminal probe. A state prosecutor who took offence at their attitude said: “It seems like the detainees find this funny. They’re laughing and I ask them to show more respect. This is a serious matter.”
It emerged at the hearing in the Colombian city of Riohacha that prosecutors intend on demonstrating that Luis Manuel Diaz’s kidnap was motivated by the men’s desire to make money. They have accused the four suspects of crimes including aggravated kidnap for the purpose of extortion. The quartet include a man that prosecutors say infiltrated Mr Diaz’s inner circle by posing as a football trainer to get a job at the soccer school he runs.
Luis Manuel Diaz was rescued last Thursday (AFP via Getty Images)The state prosecutor who attended Thursday’s hearing said he was seeking preventative custody for the men, named as Marlon Rafael Brito Bolivar, alias Marlon; Brayan Javier Morales Sanjuan, alias Brayan or Negro; Andrys Alcides Bolivar Bolivar, alias Andrys: and Yerdinson Bolivar Bolivar alias ‘Arenca’ or 'Areca.’ He described them as a “danger to society” and said they posed a flight risk and shouldn’t be given bail.
Colombian authorities have identified them as members of a gang called Los Primos, which in English translates as The Cousins.
They have accused them of carrying out the kidnap and handing Mr Diaz over to a regional unit of the ELN left-wing insurgent group called the Northern War Front.
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The Los Primos gang is said to specialise in drug trafficking and has reportedly been identified as a sub-division of the notorious Gulf Clan, whose former leader Dairo Antonio Usaga was once seen as one of the world’s most dangerous drug lords. Usaga, better-known as Otoniel, was sentenced to 45 years in a US prison in August after pleading guilty to high-level drug trafficking charges.
Luis Diaz has been reunited with his father in Colombia (TWITTER)None of the four suspects whose arrests the Colombian police and prosecutors went public with last Saturday indicated they would plead guilty to the charges they are facing, insisting they were innocent. The judge said he would announce his ruling on whether they should be sent to jail or released on conditional bail next Monday.
Yerdinson Bolivar has been identified as the man allegedly tasked with keeping the Liverpool winger’s dad under surveillance as part of a ’covert infiltration’ to build up a picture of his movements after he became a trainer at his football school in Barrancas. A chilling picture published by Colombian media earlier this week showed him walking behind dad Diaz, who seemed to be unaware of the other man’s presence, in a shoe shop.
It was not made clear when the photo was taken. The two other suspects, Marlon Rafael Brito Bolivar and Brayan Javier Morales Sanjuan, are said to have ridden the motorbikes used to abduct Diaz and his wife Cilenis Maralunda - who was rescued shortly afterwards - as they bought water melons in their home town.
The fourth man, Andrys Alcides Bolivar Bolivar, is a currency exchange worker who has been described as the leader of the operation and the man who organised Mr Diaz’s handover to the ELN, which later took responsibility for taking him hostage in what police have described as a case of “criminal outsourcing.”
These are the four men on trial (Semana)Local reports have pointed to the ELN using the gang allegedly led by Alcides to deflect attention from their role in the crime. Colombian authorities announced the arrests after 58-year-old Mr Diaz was rescued last Thursday following a 13-day ordeal.
Police chief William Salamanca said: “We put Operation Freedom in motion the day of the kidnap, which enabled us to identify the alleged intellectual and material authors, among them the criminal group called ‘Los Primos’ who offend using the ‘criminal outsourcing’ method.
“During the development of the operation we captured four people allegedly responsible for kidnapping Luis Manuel Diaz.”
Speaking two days after the release of Luis Diaz’s father, the country’s Attorney General Francisco Barbosa said: “We have made good on our pledge and less than 72 hours after Mr Luis Manuel Diaz, the father of the footballer Luis Diaz, recovered his freedom we have captured the kidnappers.”
The Roman Catholic bishop who helped reunite Mr Diaz with his family after taking a helicopter to a mountain area near Colombia ’s border with Venezuela following handover negotiations, revealed afterwards he had asked him to “marry him again” after losing his wedding band during his kidnap ordeal.
Monsignor Francisco Ceballos said Luis Manuel Diaz asked him to conduct the ceremony in which he will renew his wedding vows to Cilenis Marulanda. Authorities have insisted no ransom money was handed over to secure the release. Mr Diaz and his footballer son, who was advised to stay in the UK while his dad was hostage, enjoyed an emotional reunion earlier this week when the Liverpool ace flew back to Colombia for international duty.
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