The Public Prosecutor’s Office and the National Police of Ecuador reported this Thursday (10) that the six arrested on suspicion of participating in the murder of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio are Colombians.
According to the Ecuadorian press, those arrested are Andrés Manuel Mosquera Ortiz, José Neider López Hitas, Adey Fernando García, Camilo Andrés Romero Reyes, Jules Osmin Castaño Alzate and Jhon Gregore Rodríguez Gomgora.
Earlier, the Minister of the Interior, Juan Zapata, had stated that the detainees are of foreign nationality and linked to an organized crime group, but the name of the organization was not disclosed. The nationality of the suspects was also not specified at that time.
In searches carried out in Quito, the six suspects were arrested and weapons (a rifle, a submachine gun, pistols, grenades and chargers) and vehicles were seized.
A pistol had already been found at the crime scene. Ballistic tests confirmed that the weapon was used in the attack.
In an exchange of fire after the attack on Villavicencio, there was a chase in which another suspect was killed. According to the newspaper El Universo, the man, whose name has not been released, had been arrested for illegally possessing and carrying weapons in June.
Fernando Villavicencio was shot dead early Wednesday night (9) as he left a rally in Quito. President Guillermo Lasso informed that the investigations will be carried out in collaboration with the FBI.
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