The Second Specialized Transitional Supreme Prosecutor’s Office for Crimes Committed by Public Officials opened an investigation against Andres Hurtadoalso known as ‘Chibolín’ for influence peddling.
WATCH: Who is ‘Vaticano’, the drug trafficker linked to Andrés Hurtado?
The document presented also mentions prosecutor Elizabeth Peralta, Javier Miu Lei and Iván Siucho.
It is worth mentioning that this investigation has been declared complex and the deadline for its completion is eight months.
According to the report, the investigation began on September 6 and will last for a period of 60 days. In addition, the Sunday program Panorama reported that on September 9 a procedure was carried out in the office of prosecutor Peralta.
Andrés Hurtado linked to the ‘Vatican’
Andrés Hurtado remains in the eye of the storm. This time, his name is not only linked to footballers and prosecutors, but also to a known drug trafficker.
The Sunday paper Cuarto Poder revealed that ‘Chibolín’ is the legal representative of Demetrio Chávez Peñaherrera, better known as ‘Vaticano’. In the 1990s, he became known as the ‘Peruvian Pablo Escobar’.
According to the document, Hurtado has the power to “manage without limitation the movable and immovable property owned” by ‘Vaticano’, as well as “request credit, debit or other cards, request the secret code, request short, medium and long-term loans.” In total, ‘Chibolín’ has 14 powers from ‘Vaticano’. This link was forged in 2019.
Who is ‘Vatican’?
Demetrio Chávez Peñaherrera was the most important drug trafficker in Peru.
‘Vaticano’ managed to make the border with Brazil and Colombia his center of operations in the early 1990s. His complex included a laboratory for processing cocaine hydrochloride, as well as a 1,500-meter landing strip, a house and a food warehouse.
He was captured in 1994 by the Colombian police and was accused of delivering five tons of cocaine a month to the Cali Cartel.
Following his arrest, the Vatican shocked the country with a revelation involving the intelligence officer of Alberto Fujimori’s government.
In 1996, Chávez Peñaherrera claimed that his drug trafficking activities were carried out with the knowledge of the then head of the National Intelligence Service (SIN), Vladimiro Montesinos. In this regard, he claimed to have paid him US$50,000 a month, between June 1991 and May 1992, to allow him to carry out his illegal activities with total impunity.
He was sentenced to 30 years in prison for the crimes of treason and drug trafficking. His sentence was later reduced to 22 years in prison and the sentence for treason was eliminated. This allowed him to leave prison in 2016. He also had to pay US$50 million to the Peruvian State as civil reparations.
More than a friend
In 2020, Hurtado told the newspaper Ojo that he was happy that his friend Chávez Peñaherrera had been released.
“I haven’t seen him, I feel very happy for him. I haven’t met him because he has to be with his family, I hope to see him soon to talk about so many issues. He has already served his sentence, he has the right to speak, to give his opinion, when one serves his sentence that’s how it is,” he said after revealing that he would send him an invitation to have him on “Porque hoy es sábado con Andrés.” The public meeting did not materialize.
Asked if he thought that ‘Vaticano’ had left the crime behind, Andrés Hurtado said that “all Peruvians saw that when he left prison (Miguel Castro Castro) we liked his words when he said: ‘don’t follow in my footsteps’. That’s nice.”
When asked if he regretted this friendship, the presenter ruled it out completely: “I never regret anything, there are many people who fail, we all fail. I have lived through difficult times, only now am I happy in all my aspects. I have a life made and I can die in peace, I have grown daughters. I am a person who, thanks to God, has come to this channel, where my only purpose is to tell the truth by helping those who have less. They can say whatever they want about me and it won’t hurt me, I am fulfilled in my life.”
Today it is known that after leaving prison, ‘Chibolín’ -always according to the Sunday paper- became the representative of the convicted drug trafficker.
(With information from BBC and El País)
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