Attention! Powerful former capo who had served sentence in the U.S. is murdered in Montería: he was shot in a high-end SUV

The latest news about the alleged mafia enforcer Jerson Enrique Camacho Cedeño is that he had returned to Colombia in 2024 after serving a sentence in the United States. And this information was just confirmed after authorities found his body in Guasimal, a rural area of Montería, with multiple gunshot wounds.

The events occurred on Friday, July 24, when armed men killed him while he was traveling in a black BMW SUV, accompanied by two armed bodyguards, who were also murdered.

According to the file, ‘Flaco Jerson’, as he was known, had served since 1995 as the leader of hitmen for the group known as ‘los Yiyos’, accused of violently collecting large drug debts on behalf of several drug trafficking organizations in Colombia and Mexico.

“From approximately 1997 until 2005 or 2006, Los Yiyos worked for the Montoya faction of the Norte del Valle cocaine cartel in Colombia. As part of ‘los Yiyos’, Camacho Cedeño carried out numerous kidnappings and drug-related murders on behalf of the cartel,” reads the indictment from a court in the Eastern District of New York.

It adds: “Around 2005 or 2006, Camacho Cedeño left the Montoya organization and became the leader of another quasi-independent group of hitmen who committed murders and violently collected debts on behalf of other major drug organizations in Colombia and Mexico, including the Mexican drug organization known as ‘los Zetas’. In the spring of 2006, for example, the Zetas hired Camacho Cedeño to help them collect a large drug debt totaling approximately $200 million US dollars. Camacho Cedeño was paid fees of approximately $440,000 US dollars for his work…”.

But close associates say he was dedicated to cattle ranching and that he went to Montería for a business meeting. EL TIEMPO’s investigation established that he has a registration in Cali for cattle and buffalo breeding and road freight transport. The company reports 10 million in assets and is headquartered in a luxurious house in the south of that city.

The alleged capo traveled in seven armored SUVs. At the time of his death, he was accompanied by two bodyguards who were identified as Ferney Patiño Marín, whose body was found in the Curralao district, in Turbo, Antioquia, on Saturday, July 25. This means he was moved from Montería.

(Check here all the articles from EL TIEMPO’s Investigative Unit)

Simultaneously, authorities found the body of his other bodyguard, identified as Reinel González Alzate, from Tuluá, Valle. The body was found in the Palmitas district, a rural area of Medellín. Both showed signs of torture.

Both had been linked a few months ago to a security and surveillance company located in Bogotá.

INVESTIGATIVE UNIT

u.investigativa@eltiempo.com

@UinvestigativaET

Follow us now on Facebook