The Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice decreed the filing of the file related to the extradition to Colombia of Digno José Palomino Rodríguez, requested in that country for being one of the leaders of the Los Costeños criminal organization, according to sentence No. 152.
This is due to the breakdown of relations between Venezuela and Colombia, which the neighboring country took advantage of by not presenting the required documentation in the extradition process of Palomino Rodríguez, says the ruling of the high court.
Coupled with this decision, the Chamber recalled “that the failure to present the formal request for extradition, in the present case, caused by the total cessation of diplomatic relations…, entails the immediate release of the apprehended.” But since the subject entered the country irregularly, the Chamber handed him over to the Administrative Identification Service (Saime) “as a detainee so that the aforementioned entity can determine his status in Venezuelan territory.”
Palomino Rodríguez was captured on December 9, 2019 in the El Amanecer urbanization, Cabudare (Lara), according to the record prepared by the Cicpc.
Three days after his arrest, Palomino Rodríguez was brought before the 10th Court of Control in Caracas where he was sentenced to deprivation of liberty by virtue of a blue notice filed with Interpol by the Republic of Colombia. Said notification implied the detention of the subject for the purpose of his extradition.
To follow the legal route, the extradition file was sent to the Criminal Chamber of the TSJ where it had to be decided whether the request from Colombia was admissible or not.
Precisely the Interpol file indicates that Colombian justice requires Palomino Rodríguez to be tried for “conspiracy to commit a crime, homicide, trafficking, manufacturing or carrying narcotics, extortion, manufacturing, trafficking, carrying or possession of firearms,” according to the file. opened in the Prosecutor’s Office 148 against Organized Crime of Barranquilla, Colombia, through arrest warrant 396 dated 08/28/2018.
“Through an investigation it was established that Palomino is a member of a criminal organization called ‘Los Costeños’, dedicated to contract killings in addition to extortion collection, and drug trafficking control, where Palomino is the second leader of this organization and is the one who orders the commission of homicides and other criminal activities”, adds the file.
