Colombian hit men blamed for 200 murders arrested in Spain

[Judi Lynn]

Colombian hit men blamed for 200 murders arrested in Spain

Two Colombian hit men alleged to have kidnapped, tortured and killed more than 200 people on the orders of drug cartel bosses have been arrested in Spain.

Fiona Govan, in Madrid
Published: 4:44PM BST 14 Sep 2010

http://i.telegraph.co.uk.nyud.net:8090/telegraph/multimedia/archive/01715/colombia_1715607c.jpg

Henry Norberto Valdes Marin, aka 'Pollo' (left) and Colombian Alberto
Gonzalez Sepulveda, aka 'Ronco' (right), were arrested in Valencia
Photo: EPA

The men had been hiding out in the Valencia region in eastern Spain using fake identities. One had even altered his fingerprints to evade detection. Police named them as Henry Norberto Valdes Marin, 36, alias Pollo – meaning Chicken – and Mauricio Alberto Gonzalez, 44, aka Ronco – meaning Husky.

~snip~
Valdes Marin is believed to have acted as logistics chief of La Negra, a group of hit men working for Colombia's Norte del Valle drug cartel.

La Negra is thought to operate across eight countries and is blamed for the murder of more than 200 people in Colombia alone, including the footballer, Albeiro "El Paloma" Usuriaga, who was gunned down in 2004.

Gonzales Sepulveda is one of the suspected leaders of the AUC, a paramilitary organisation serving Colombia's Envigado drug cartel, whose hallmark was chopping up bodies using a chainsaw. Now confined to a wheelchair after taking three bullets in a shoot-out, he had skin grafted to his finger tips to disguise his identity.

More:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/spain/8002367/Colombian-hit-men-blamed-for-200-murders-arrested-in-Spain.html

[Judi Lynn]

1. Two Colombian professional hitmen arrested in Valencia

Two Colombian professional hitmen arrested in Valencia
By h.b. - Sep 14, 2010 - 2:07 PM

Two professional hitmen, known as ‘Pollo’ and ‘Ronco’, believed to have been responsible for more than 200 deaths in eight different countries, have been arrested in Valencia.

The two Colombians, aged 36 and 44, and have the real names of Henry Norberto Valdes, and Mauricio Alberto González. They were two of the most wanted criminals in their country, and formed a ‘debt collecting team’ paid for by the Colombian drug cartels. It’s thought that they were about to establish a similar operation here in Spain, after Ronco got married to a Spanish woman to obtain residence here.

National police made the two arrests, one in Valencia City, and the other in L’Eliana, some 20 kms from the city.

They will appear in the National Court shortly ahead of extradition on charges of homicide, illegal possession of firearms, torture, drug trafficking and kidnap.

http://www.typicallyspanish.com/news/publish/article_27182.shtml

[Wilms]

2. kick n/t