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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
World
Josh Salisbury

Junior Roldán: Body of infamous Ecuadorian gangster stolen from cemetery

The body of an Ecuadorian gang leader has been taken from its resting place in a Colombian cemetery, police have said.

Junior Roldán was a senior member of the Los Choneros prison gang in Ecuador, before being shot dead in May.

His remains were placed in a wall vault in the town of Envigado after no one had claimed his body, but they have since disappeared, the BBC reported.

Police told local media that the cemetery was broken into overnight, but it was not clear if Roldán’s body was specifically targeted.

Los Choneros is an infamous prison gang in Ecuador but Roldán fled to Colombia after two attempts on his life. The gang engages in drug trafficking and extortion.

In the first, he was shot and injured in March by members of rival gang Los Lobos, [The Wolves].

He also survived another attack in which drones laden with explosives were set off above the prison wing he was inside.

After being released from prison, he was later found shot in the head in a wooded area on May 6, in a killing police suspect may have been carried out by his bodyguard in a bid to take the cash he fled with.

No arrests have been made in connection with the murder.

Roldán was identified by his tattoos, and was buried on May 18, but on Tuesday workers discovered that the vault was empty.

He was known to have many enemies, because Los Choneros directed many criminal operations from behind bars.

It is also thought to have been behind some of the most gruesome prison fights in Ecuador, in which dozens of inmates were killed and even beheaded.

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