Those arrested belong to the Pacífico Block of the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC, a paramilitary organisation), Colonel Gutiérrez added.
The five men are accused of having “invited” more than twenty young guys from that port on the Pacific Ocean, to play a football game, and two days later their corpses were found with signs of torture and shots in the head.
Since 2000, at least fifteen killings have been recorded in Buenaventura and since the beginning of the current year there have been about 100 murders, official sources recalled today.
The corpses of the football players, who were aged between 18 and 25, were found floating in a cove by fishermen, close to Buenaventura.
Those under arrest were taken to Cali and some sources have indicated that the background of the multiple crime lies in drug issues and in the territorial dispute between armed groups.
The victims were deceived by unknown people who invited them supposedly for a football game, with the promise that they would receive 180 dollars for the game.
The young people got on a bus provided by the criminals, on the pretext of travelling to a close place where the game would take place, according to some witnesses.
Two days later, however, the 12 corpses were found, hands tied, with shots in the head and in some cases without eyes.
EFE S.A. Agency Friday, April 29th, 2005 at 10:36 PM
