Colombian investigators are digging deeper into the case of a farm where a weapons cache tied to an alleged assassination plot against President Gustavo Petro was discovered. According to reporting by El Tiempo’s investigative unit, the property’s owner appears in the Sisbén registry — the government database used to identify low-income households eligible for social benefits — even though financial records show he has moved around 16 billion Colombian pesos, roughly $4 million.
The farm is reportedly connected to Andrés Mauricio Vélez Hernández, alias ‘Fortuna,’ a powerful drug trafficker who allegedly sought legal and financial favors in exchange for information about the supposed plot against Petro. Prosecutors are now examining whether current government officials played any role in helping him.
The development follows an earlier revelation by the same investigative team: a leaked audio recording in which Amelia Pérez, the former head of Colombia’s Special Assets Society (SAE) — the agency that manages properties seized from criminals — described being pressured by Andrés Idárraga, the former Secretary of Transparency, to appoint a specific woman to manage a property confiscated from Vélez Hernández.
The case raises fresh questions about how assets tied to organized crime are handled inside Petro’s administration, and whether officials may have improperly intervened to benefit a major trafficker. To read the full details and see the original reporting, check out El Tiempo’s investigation.
Source: Dueño de finca en la que hallaron arsenal para supuesto atentado contra Petro figura en el Sisbén (eltiempo.com). English version produced with AI assistance.
Image: Renegade98, BY-SA 2.0 (via Openverse).