Despite the controversial decision adopted by the Arica Guarantee Judge Héctor Barraza, who last year decided to hand over to the defenses of the members of the Venezuelan criminal organization “Los Gallegos de Arica” the data related to the names of protected witnesses and agents undercover who testified against them, the majority of Arica judges do not think the same way, judging by the information provided this morning by the Supreme Court, through its website, which indicates that, in temporary and “ exceptional”, the personal records of the judges of the Oral Criminal Trial Court (TOP) and the Court of Appeals of Arica will be erased from the institution’s web portal”, while the trial against “Los Gallegos”, which should begin on April 22, after the guarantee court issued the respective opening order.
The decision was adopted by the Supreme Court, at the request of the Arica court, taking into account the level of danger of the members of “Los Gallegos”. Although they do not mention it, the judges are very aware that the prosecutor in charge of the case (whose name is not published, precisely to protect his physical integrity) had to be relocated to another region of the country, after being threatened with a firearm. by members of the group, and that several witnesses have been subjected to intimidation and threats.
As reported by Radio ADN, the president of the Arica court, Juan Ríos, said that “there is no fear in the judges of this jurisdiction,” adding that “we assume all the risks that this implies” and that if they asked to delete the data from the website is because of the fear that something will happen to their family members.
It should also be noted that one of the Arica TOP judges voluntarily recused himself from participating in the case, because he knows one of the accused, who was already convicted in an abbreviated trial. This is Judge Sergio Alvarez, who asked to be excluded from the trial because he knows Alvaro Muñoz Sotomayor, a Chilean nightclub businessman who owned two nightclubs in which young Venezuelan and Colombian women were prostituted by Los Gallegos. When the PDI arrested Muñoz, they found $20,000 in cash in his possession, the product of trafficking in women for sexual exploitation.
In addition to the effective sentence he received, more than four years in prison, two commercial companies that were used to operate the nightclubs and also to launder assets were judicially dissolved.
The leaders of Los Gallegos are currently held in the high-security prison in Santiago, and several of them were benefited by the judge of the Seventh Guarantee Court of the capital, Daniel Urrutia, with video calls to their relatives.
“Los Gallegos de Caracas” are one of the arms of the Aragua Train. Its name comes from the brave group of the old Galicia football club, in Caracas, known as “Los Gallegos de Caracas”. This club moved to the state of Aragua in 2002 and several of its fans, who committed crimes, were imprisoned in the Tocorón prison, where they created a “train” (group, in the prison jargon of that country) known as “Los Gallegos.” , which became part of the Aragua Train, founded in that prison.