:quality(75)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/elcomercio/WSGJWOQGR5FIFE4WPLPY3BX3GI.jpg "Pedro Castillo | Fray Vázquez and Juan Silva still manage to evade justice: How long have characters associated with the former president been on the run? | Alejandro Sanchez | Sarratea House | Preena | principle")
American officials They arrested Alejandro Sanchez Sanchez last Friday. One of the alleged members of the network led by Pedro Castillo Peru has managed to evade justice since last October. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it is taking steps to evict the former owner of the Sarredia house and bring him back to Peru. He faces detention for corruption and criminal organization offences.
However, two other alleged members of the alleged scheme led by the former president are wanted by the Peruvian justice system and whose whereabouts are unknown: his son-in-law; Fray Vasquez Castillo and his former Minister of Transport and Communications Juan Silva. Both are involved in the case ‘Dharatha Bridge’, For this, Pedro Castillo is currently serving a 36-month remand in Barbadillo prison.
Read more | Alejandro Sánchez: Accidentally Detained, column by Hector Villalobos
The former president was arrested on December 7th when he went to the Mexican Embassy in Peru to carry out a failed coup. Currently, he is serving a remand sentence for the crime of sedition, while another is in jail for corruption and criminal organization charges. Unlike him, the police could never find or detain Fray Vásquez and Juan Silva, and they have been evading justice for a year and a half.
| fugitive | The date of your arrest warrant | Days Elapsed (Until September 11, 2023) |
|---|---|---|
| Fray Vasquez | March 28, 2022 | 532 days or 1 year, 5 months and 9 days) |
| Juan Silva | June 4, 2022 | 464 days or 1 year, 3 months and 7 days |
son-in-law
As of the original publication of this report (September 11, 2023). Fray Vásquez Castillo has 532 days as a fugitive from justice, equal to 1 year, 5 months and 9 days. His original arrest warrant dates back to March 28, 2022, the day he took action to make the preliminary arrest of a group investigated in connection with the ‘Tharada Bridge’. Currently, S/ 80 thousand rewards are given in the system For information on his location.
In April of the same year, at the request of the prosecutor’s office, the Department of Justice imposed a detention order of 36 months. The move was confirmed at a second instance the following month, but the period was reduced to 24 months. He is considered part of a criminal network headed by his uncle as a “middle manager”: he used his closeness with senior state officials to award the tender for the Tarada Bridge to “interested third parties”. .
Secrecy does not prevent the person under investigation from being prosecuted before the Judiciary. Fray Vásquez’s defense managed to challenge and appeal his restraining order, without success, and he himself joined the virtual trial from an unknown location. His cousin Gian Marco Castillo had better luck, he ran for a few weeks on the same case, but his prison order was revoked in the second instance; Bruno Pacheco, a former secretary of the presidential office, was a fugitive from March 28 until July when he surrendered to the police.
Fray Vásquez’s lawyer, Iván Ramírez, told El Comercio that “four judges (three in the first case and three in the second case) have been sued because of many irregularities.” His client’s detention was ordered and upheld without sufficient evidence, his argument being that he was included in the case because he was Pedro Castillo’s nephew and “a friend of Jamir Villaverde.”
In May 2022, during the government of Pedro Castrillo, The PNP said it requested Interpol The agency issued a “red notice” against Fray Vásquez, recognizing his international capture. However, Ramirez assured that he “does not have any notice to order his arrest internationally by Interpol”.
Despite this, the lawyer confirms that Fray Vásquez “is in Peru” and denies that he will surrender to the authorities. “No work,” he insisted. “Despite the international order, Fray remains in Peru. As a lawyer I know where he is and sometimes meet him in person. […] Who knows what will happen tomorrow. There is no guarantee”.
Former minister
Meanwhile, an arrest warrant against Juan Silva was issued on June 4 by Supreme Judge Juan Carlos Segli, but the police were never able to execute it. 464 days which equates to 1 year, 3 months and 7 days have passed and the whereabouts of the former MTC chief is not certain. For information on locating his capture S/ 50 thousand is given.
At the time, the police could not catch Juan Silva despite the prosecution’s request that his location be monitored through intelligence operations. The incident led to the censure of then Interior Minister Dimitri Senmache in July of that year.
Amidst the controversy, Senmache noted that his department was encouraged in those days that Interpol had issued an order “putting 194 countries in mind that he is wanted all over the world”. Meanwhile, a raid on Carapaillo’s possible hideout in the Lima district found his passport, but was not subject to investigation.
After the coup and the arrest of Pedro Castillo, Congress approved the constitutional impeachment against him and Juan Silva in the Puente Tarada case. Subsequently, the prosecution requested to remand both of them. Judge Checkley issued the action on March 9. It was also decided to notify Interpol of the decision to arrest him internationally. This order was confirmed by a bench of the Supreme Court.
In Juan Silva’s case, the prosecution says, “he coordinated the operational command of the criminal organization,” which included the likes of Fray Vázquez Castillo and businessman Jamir Villaverde García. All within the purported acquisition plan of the Ministry of Transport and Communications.
“When Villaverde García recruited officials and businessmen, he presented them to Vázquez Castillo and Castillo Gómez for approval, who brought the proposal to the attention of his uncle, former President Castillo Terrones, for his support. The proposal was then sent to current former minister Silva Villegas, whose role in the Ministry of Transport and Communications, Villaverde García has recruited and supported trusted personnel.Reads the resolution of his detention.
During the first months of his absconding, the former minister’s then-lawyer said he was going to surrender to the authorities and was only waiting for the prosecutor’s office to complete an expert report related to the investigation. His later attorney, who argued against his request for detention, is refusing to surrender today because he considers the judicial branch’s order unfounded.
“Done to Mr. Juan Silva [órdenes] National and international capture, everything; “But Mr. Juan Silva will be released soon.”, lawyer Jorge Castro told El Comercio. According to him, he has already collected all the necessary information related to the case to face the charges in the case and is about to submit a request for suspension of detention before the Department of Justice.
“A person who feels innocent and complains because he is the complainer [de presuntas irregularidades en la licitación del Puente Tarata]Why should he be detained?“, he said. He also described the efficient collaborators involved in the case as “liars” and questioned the practice of Congress authorizing constitutional charges against them.
On the other hand, I cannot answer whether the former minister is in Peru or abroad. “I’m going to stop detention, and this applies to me. I don’t talk to that man, never have. The family hired me”, he promised.
Try abroad
Former Interior Minister Ruben Vargas told El Comercio that to understand the difficulties the police had in finding fugitives, it must be taken into account that their disappearance occurred during the administration of Pedro Castillo, which included “accomplices”.
“The whole system failed because it was under a criminal organization, because it was co-opted by the leader of that criminal organization, who was, unfortunately, the supreme head of the police. “These characters and others fled because they enjoyed the protection of the corrupt elements of the police and cheated the ministers.”said.
Mariano González, who succeeded Dimitri Senmache in the Department of the Interior, was suddenly removed by Pedro Castillo after allowing him to form a police team to catch these fugitives, a similar analysis: “Castillo had infiltrations into the state apparatus.”
Vargas thinks it’s unlikely the two are in Peru. “They would have done so only if they were enjoying the security that Pedro Castillo’s government offered them, but the situation has changed.” “With the protection, assistance and facilities provided to them then, there is no doubt that they fled the country,” he assessed.
On the other hand, he warned, the system could be considered “too lenient” internationally in relation to fugitives linked to corruption offences. As an example, he cited the case of former judge Cesar Hinostroza, who is no longer wanted by Interpol. Nor Alejandro Sánchez himself – according to this newspaper’s sources – did not have a red notice at the time of his arrest for trying to cross the border from Mexico to the United States.
“We still see soft hands or loopholes that make things easier for political corruption. Internationally. César Hinostroza makes fun of all Peruvians, he does not say that he enjoys immunity and impunity,” he considered. For all these reasons, the efforts of the Peruvian authorities to find all these fugitives through Interpol He pointed out that the aim should be to find those caught abroad.
Mariano González said that currently, “the actions that the administrator can take are very few, basically consolidation.” “Promoting search is a task for justice administration bodies.”
