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Reuters
Reuters
World

Colombia arrests two more suspects in Paraguayan prosecutor's murder

Agents of the Technical Investigation Corps (CTI) and the Judicial Investigation Directorate (DIJIN) pose for a photo with brothers Andres Felipe and Ramen Emilio Perez Hoyos, who according to the authorities participated in the murder of the Paraguayan prosecutor Marcelo Pecci assassinated in Cartagena, after their capture in Rio Negro, Colombia January 15, 2023. Courtesy of Colombian Attorney/Handout via REUTERS

Two more people suspected of participating in the May murder of a Paraguayan prosecutor have been arrested, the Colombian prosecutor's office said on Sunday.

Prosecutor Marcelo Pecci, 45, known for fighting organized crime, was shot dead on the island of Baru near the Caribbean city of Cartagena while honeymooning with his wife.

Four people have already been jailed in Colombia for their involvement in his killing, and a man in Venezeula was arrested in December.

FILE PHOTO: Late prosecutor Marcelo Pecci is seen in this photo talking to the media as he arrived to interview Paraguayan President Mario Abdo Benitez at the Paraguayan presidential residence in Asuncion, Paraguay on August 11, 2019. REUTERS/Jorge Adorno/File Photo

In the latest arrests, brothers Andres Perez and Ramon Perez are accused of arranging the logistics behind the murder, including hiring hitmen, who they planned to pay large sums of money, the prosecutor's office said in a statement.

Attorneys for the Perez brothers could not be reached for comment.

"These two people, it appears, were the ones who were in charge of the logistics, which made the criminal act possible," Colombian Attorney General Francisco Barbosa told reporters.

Agents of the Technical Investigation Corps (CTI) and the Judicial Investigation Directorate (DIJIN) pose for a photo with brothers Andres Felipe and Ramen Emilio Perez Hoyos, who according to the authorities participated in the murder of the Paraguayan prosecutor Marcelo Pecci assassinated in Cartagena, after their capture in Rio Negro, Colombia January 15, 2023. Courtesy of Colombian Attorney/Handout via REUTERS

Officials seized documents, clothing and a car that had been used during the planning of the murder, the prosecutor's office added in a statement.

(Reporting by Julia Cobb, Writing by Daina Beth Solomon; editing by Diane Craft)

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