The Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice rejected an appeal that sought to annul the 30-year prison sentence imposed on two soldiers accused of drug trafficking. Consequently, the aforementioned maximum penalty sentence remained untouched, as read in sentence No. 731, issued on November 17 with the signature of the three magistrates who are members of the Criminal Chamber: Elsa Gómez (editor), Carmen Marisela Castro and Maikel Moreno.
The sentence relates to the dismantling of an organized crime group, made up of six soldiers and three civilians. The soldiers were detained on July 23, 2021 at the headquarters of the National Anti-Drug Command of the Bolivarian National Guard (GNB), located in the Las Acacias urbanization, Caracas.
The members of the group of detained soldiers are: José Gregorio Álvarez (major), as well as first lieutenants Ángel Enmanuel Urdaneta, Richard de Jesús Rivas Zambrano and José Gregorio Vivas Lemus. All were assigned to the GNB School of Internal Order, located in Caracas.
Days before, Lieutenant Dailyng Gabriela Ferrer Bracho was detained during a procedure carried out in the La Encrucijada sector of the Libertador municipality (Tocuyito), Central Regional Highway, Campo Carabobo-Valencia section. This person was traveling in a Renault Logan plate AB8510W with his civilian cousin Denny José Bracho Portillo.
During the search of the aforementioned vehicle, 50 panels of marijuana were located in a hidden compartment, which yielded a total weight of 50 kilos and 550 grams, according to reports.
Marco Antonio Reinoso García and the Colombian Jhon Alexander Prada Barboza were also arrested on different dates as linked to that group, the ruling says.
The investigation by the Public Ministry, included in the sentence of the Criminal Chamber, ensures that this group was dedicated to “trafficking drugs, dishonorably using the uniform they wore as officers of our glorious Bolivarian National Armed Forces, even using vehicles for official use, with which they evaded controls and searches at checkpoints.”
A group of these people were tried between November 1, 2022 and March 19, 2024 before the Third Trial Court of Carabobo, an instance that sentenced Major José Gregorio Álvarez Sandoval to the maximum penalty, as well as First Lieutenants Richard de Jesús Rivas Zambrano and Ángel Enmanuel Urdaneta Silva, who were declared guilty of the crimes of association to commit a crime and illicit trafficking. aggravated use of narcotic and psychotropic substances in the form of transportation and concealment.
The conviction was ratified by the Court of Appeals of Carabobo, which is why Rivas and Urdaneta went to the Criminal Chamber to denounce, among other things, that the trial court did not adequately evaluate the evidence presented. The magistrates responded that this complaint was unfounded and, consequently, they dismissed the appeal, leaving the 30-year sentence untouched.
