After the killing of Naín Andrés Pérez Toncel, alias Bendito Menor, and his partner, Rosa Angélica Tarazona, alias La Bebecita, authorities are now on the trail of several of their lieutenants operating in La Guajira and Santa Marta.
The Investigative Unit of EL TIEMPO investigated and established that, besides the videos in which dozens of armed men accompanied the burial of the leader of the Autodefensas Conquistadores de la Sierra, (firing shots and singing ballads related to the criminal), authorities are analyzing a series of documents found in a series of raids.
Operation in Santa Marta
One of the investigators’ findings is that, to guarantee Pérez Toncel’s security, luxurious homes were built strategically located and with sophisticated security systems.
This newspaper had access to a Prosecutor’s Office record, dated June 12, which contains information about his bunkers and confirms that coordinates and data about his movements were already available.
Based on that initial information, CTI officials from the Prosecutor’s Office, in coordination with the Military Gaula and units of the Second Brigade of the National Army, carried out five search and raid operations in homes located in the 11 de Noviembre neighborhood, in Santa Marta (Magdalena), which were key for the final operation.
The closed-circuit surveillance
According to the Prosecutor’s Office, the procedures were aimed at affecting the logistical and armed component of the ‘Autodefensas Conquistadoras de la Sierra Nevada’, and exposing the properties used to plan and coordinate illicit activities such as extortion, kidnappings, homicides, and local drug trafficking.
After the operation, a closed-circuit video surveillance system that the criminal organization had installed in the area to alert about the presence of authorities was identified and disabled; it consisted of cameras, drones, and other electronic devices.
Additionally, 4 rifles, one rifle, one traumatic weapon, 4 telescopic sights, notebooks, and documents with relevant information for the investigation were seized.
Those documents contained key information about ‘Bendito Menor’s drug trafficking businesses and other profiles, as well as addresses of properties the boss used as a stronghold to hide from authorities.
The hunter
And although the information about the operation has mostly focused on ‘Bendito Menor’ and ‘La Bebecita’, the Investigative Unit of EL TIEMPO established that their two bodyguards had been monitored by intelligence agents.
One of them was a well-known figure to justice and is believed to have been responsible for ‘Bendito Menor’ arriving at the house where he was killed.
He is Keiner José Moscote Martíz, alias Casi Loco, about whom authorities knew that his father is from the corregimiento of Galán, a rural area of Riohacha, and his mother from the municipality of Villanueva, La Guajira.
“‘Casi Loco’ lived in the Los Olivos neighborhood, very close to the airport. It is not ruled out that due to his familiarity with the area, he was the one who took ‘Bendito Menor’ to that strategic zone. He had informants on the corners and in several streets near the house where they were killed”, an investigator told EL TIEMPO.
He added that what they sought with that location was to control the area of the Almirante Padilla airport, in Riohacha, to know who was coming in and out.
The Investigative Unit of EL TIEMPO established that ‘Casi Loco’ appears in an old file for arms trafficking and possession, in which he was sentenced to 4 years of house arrest. Also, to justify the weapons he carried, he claimed to be a hunter.
The junk shop and the car dealer
According to documents in this newspaper’s possession, Moscote Martiz posed as a prosperous businessman in Riohacha. But for Police officers, his financial muscle came from illicit activities and the payroll of the ‘Bendito Menor’ criminal group.
EL TIEMPO investigated and established that Keiner José Moscote Martiz opened a business in Riohacha in January 2022, dedicated to retail trade of household items and utensils.
The store is called Cacharrería KJMM and is located 3 blocks from the Almirante Padilla airport, in the Los Olivos neighborhood – near where they were killed -, and by 2025 reported 41 million pesos in assets.
The other bodyguard
About Orlando Javier Paternina Ricardo – the other bodyguard killed -, EL TIEMPO investigated and established that he appears in papers as a dealer of used vehicles, cattle rancher, and even in civil engineering construction and passenger transport activities in Riohacha (La Guajira).
According to files in this newspaper’s possession, he had an office in the Buenos Aires neighborhood and by 2025 reported income of 14 million pesos.
(Check here all the articles from the Investigative Unit of EL TIEMPO)
Authorities are on the trail of several assets used by ‘Bendito Menor’ and his henchmen. And although several were rented through short-term rental apps or ‘Airbnb’, it is not ruled out that the Prosecutor’s Office will start a phase of asset forfeiture if any connection with the criminal group is found.
INVESTIGATIVE UNIT
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