Colombian released by Brazilian justice had been convicted for international trafficking

MANAUS (AM) – The Colombian Juan Carlos Urriola, accused of international drug trafficking, has a contradictory history of judicial decisions. He was arrested with approximately 1.3 kilos of skunk-type marijuana near the municipality of Santa Isabel do Rio Negro (AM), 630 kilometres from Manaus, and was released on 28 February during a custody hearing conducted by Judge Túlio de Oliveira, the fourth magistrate removed from the Amazonas Court of Justice (TJAM) in less than a month.

At the hearing held at the Henoch Reis Forum, the magistrate refused to convert the Colombian’s arrest into preventive detention, arguing that he had no criminal record. However, a decision by the Federal Court, which CENARIUM accessed, indicates that the man had already been caught red-handed in December 2015 with approximately 749 kilos of skunk marijuana, meaning there was a record of prior offences.

At the time, the Colombian was sentenced to six years and three months in a closed regime by the Fourth Panel of the Federal Regional Court of the 1st Region (TRF1) in a ruling dated 27 October 2020, for international drug trafficking.

Currently, the Colombian has two outstanding arrest warrants, according to an investigation carried out by CENARIUM. After being released at the custody hearing, the 48-year-old suspect is now a fugitive. Last Saturday, the 1st, Judge Luis Alberto Nascimento Albuquerque, from the Amazonas Court of Justice (TJAM) Criminal Duty Centre, ordered the preventive detention of Juan Urriola “to ensure the enforcement of criminal law”.

The magistrate’s decision in Amazonas comes after the judge who conducted the custody hearing was removed from his duties, according to the General Inspectorate of Justice of Amazonas. Túlio de Oliveira is the fourth magistrate removed in the State in less than a month.

Three days after the first arrest warrant was issued against the Colombian, TRF1 ordered, on Tuesday, the 4th, the detention of Juan Urriola for a final conviction for international drug trafficking. The document, signed by Federal Judge Thadeu José Piragibe Afonso, states that the man must serve a six-year sentence in a closed regime, in addition to 770 fine-days.

The report sent an email to TRF1 requesting clarification on the issuance of the arrest warrant for a final conviction against Juan Urriola, four years after the accused was convicted alongside another man, identified in the case as José Cláudio Monteiro Cruz. So far, there has been no response.

Understanding the Arrests

On 6 December 2015, the Colombian Juan Urriola was caught red-handed by agents from the Narcotics Enforcement Division during an inspection of small boats navigating the channels of the Negro and Solimões Rivers in Amazonas. According to the case file, Federal Police (PF) agents spotted a speedboat moving with little lighting and at high speed.

After authorities signalled for the boat operator to stop near the Meeting of the Waters, Juan Urriola and the other man attempted to flee. “The police agents pursued the boat along the river, observing that the individuals headed towards the riverbank, where they disembarked and entered the vegetation,” states a passage from the TRF1 ruling.

The second suspect, identified as José Cláudio, confessed that he and the Colombian were heading to a location to collect drugs and indicated where the narcotics were stored. The police initially managed to locate 11 bundles of marijuana hidden among the vegetation on the banks of the Solimões River.

“Using a Military Police helicopter, the police team also succeeded in finding Juan Urriola. On that occasion, he indicated the location of another 22 bundles of the same substance, which were therefore seized, along with an outboard motor, known as a ‘rabeta’, which, according to the defendant’s statements, was used for transporting drugs,” states another excerpt from the court ruling that convicted the pair.

The other arrest of the Colombian took place on 25 February this year, through Operation Protector of Borders and Safer Border, which combats criminal activities in the State’s rivers and is coordinated by the Ministry of Justice and Public Security (MJSP) and the Amazonas Public Security Secretariat (SSP-AM).

The seizure of approximately 1.3 tonnes of skunk-type marijuana was recorded in a forest area used as a storage point in the municipality of Santa Isabel do Rio Negro (AM), according to the Amazonas Civil Police (PC-AM). Juan Urriola, responsible for the narcotics, was caught red-handed and taken to Manaus.

Edited by Izaías Godinho
Translated from Portuguese by Gustô Alves