For the Special Team of the National Police, it is impossible for the head of the General Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of the Interior (Digimin), General PNP (r) Whitman Ríos Adrianzén, decided to dismiss to Colonel PNP Harvey Colchado HuamanI did not know the Minister of the Interior, Willy Huerta Olivas.
On Tuesday night, the minister orchard relieved General Whitman Ríos of his post without indicating the reasons for his departure, but it is understood that it was due to his alleged participation in the departure of Colonel Colchado as head of the Digimin Search Division.
At approximately 9:45 p.m. Monday, a memorandum was released signed by the Director of Intelligence of the Digimin, Colonel PNP (r) Luis Sánchez Lira, in which it is reported that Colonel Colchado had been dismissed as head of the Digimin Search Division.
A few hours later, at midnight, another memorandum circulated, this time signed by the head of the Cabinet of Advisors of the Ministry of the Interior, José Gómez Reina, denying the removal of Colonel Colchado.
In the same document, it is indicated that Minister Willy Huerta did not give the authorization nor was he aware of the replacement of Colonel Harvey Colchado.
It also provided that the Deputy Minister of Internal Order, retired PNP General Abel Gamarra, on whom the Digimin reports, investigate the case and identify those responsible.
Reprisal. Since the Palace raid, the Government seeks to cough up Colonel Colchado. Photo: John Reyes/The Republic
Then, around 2 a.m. on Tuesday, the Ministry of Interior circle a statement confirming that Minister Huerta had not ordered the change of Colonel Colchado.
In an unprecedented case, in a handful of hours Colonel Harvey Colchado Huamaní was debarred and reinstated as head of the Digimin Search Division.
all calculated
The announcement of Colchado’s removal prompted the immediate reaction of the superior prosecutor Marita Barreto, coordinator of the Prosecutors against Corruption of Power. Barreto clearly stated that the measure against Harvey Colchado it was a blow against the Special Team of the PNP and that it sought to weaken the work of the prosecutors who investigate, among other cases, those involving members of the family of President Pedro Castillo.
“It is impossible that Minister Huerta was not aware of the change in Colonel Harvey Colchado, taking into account that said officer has been harassed and denounced since he was appointed as general coordinator of the Special Team in Support of the Prosecutor’s Office against the Corruption of Power. not only by President Pedro Castillo, but also by Minister Willy Huerta himself, who has asked for his head,” sources related to the PNP Special Team indicated.
Indeed, in a meeting requested by Minister Huerta with the National Prosecutor, Patricia Benavides, he asked to appoint another officer instead of Colchado as coordinator of the PNP Special Team. The Nation’s prosecutor rejected the request and ratified Colchado for being a trusted officer.
“The head of the Digimin (Whitman Ríos Adrianzén) cannot decide on his own the changes in the placement of the officers, even less so if it is the coordinator of the PNP Special Team, which in this case is Colonel Harvey Colchado. An officer who also investigates alleged acts of government corruption. The change attempt did not come out of nowhere. It is part of a campaign to get Colchado out of the investigations, ”said the sources of the Special Team.
Reasonable doubt
How does an interior minister he will not be informed of what is happening in his sector, even more so about the situation of Colonel Colchado, knowing the political repercussion that it will cause? You have to be very naive,” the sources argued.
On Monday, September 12, the head of the Digimin Intelligence Directorate, PNP Colonel (r) Luis Sánchez Lira, appointed PNP Commander Mario Hidalgo Yen as head of the Digimin Search Division, replacing Colonel PNP Harvey Colchado Huamaní.
According to the document signed by Colonel Sánchez, the relief was carried out as ordered by the head of the Digimin, General PNP (r) Whitman Ríos Adrianzén, who answers directly to Minister Willy Huerta.
The Republic asked Ríos and Huerta for their version of the incident with Colonel Colchado, but at press time they did not respond to the calls.
Justly, On August 4 of this year, Minister Willy Huerta appointed General Whitman Ríos as head of Digimin. replacing General PNP (r) César Vallejos Mori.
Along with General Whitman Ríos, Colonel PNP (r) Luis Sánchez Lira was also appointed as Digimin’s Counterintelligence Chief. These changes occurred after the president demoted Minister Mariano González Fernández for having appointed Colonel Harvey Colchado as coordinator of the PNP Special Team. Castillo told González that Colchado was his “enemy.”
Reprisal. Since the Palace raid, the Government seeks to cough up Colonel Colchado. Photo: John Reyes/The Republic
Minister Willy Huerta, General Whitman Ríos and Colonel Luis Sánchez have something in common. All three belong to the former Republican Guard or Code 3.
Nevertheless, Whitman Ríos lasted only 15 days as head of the Digimin and on August 21 of this year he was relieved by Colonel PNP (r) Juan Asmat Bucalo. While General PNP (r) Ricardo Trujillo Cornejo assumed the leadership of the Digimin Intelligence Directorate. Fourteen days later, Asmat and Trujillo resigned from office.
On September 4, Whitman Ríos returned as head of the Digimin and, on the 8th of the same month, active PNP Colonel Guillermo Bonilla Arévalo was appointed head of the Digimin Intelligence Directorate.
What is striking is that the memorandum ordering the replacement of Colonel Harvey Colchado was signed by Colonel Luis Sánchez Lira, as head of the Digimin Intelligence Directorate. Why did Luis Sánchez sign the document if it corresponded to Guillermo Bonilla as Digimin’s director of Intelligence? Sánchez’s position is head of the Digimin Counterintelligence Directorate.
Inside the PNP Special Team there are agents from the Digimin Search Division, as well as from the High Complexity Crime Investigation Division (Diviac), the Intelligence Directorate of the National Police (DIRIN) and the Anti-Drug Directorate (Dirandro). But the greatest weight of the operations falls on the troops of the Digimin Search Division.
Therefore, Colchado’s relief sought to affect the work of the men under his command.
Two hundred agents and 90 tax files
The Digimin Search Division has with an average of 200 intelligence agents and are in charge of 90 fiscal files on criminal organizations related to drug trafficking, terrorism in the Vraem, illegal mining and government corruption.
Of that total number of files, 9 correspond to the Special Team of Prosecutors against the Corruption of Power, coordinated by the superior prosecutor Marita Barreto.
“What is intended with the departure of Colonel Colchado is to neutralize the operations of the Special Team, because if they don’t have the necessary resources and personnel, action will be limited,” the sources said.
In the hypothetical case that Colonel Colchado were not in charge of the Digimin Search Division, they would no longer have the resources to fulfill their missions, so you would have to develop a work plan identifying your objectives to apply for funds. This would involve revealing the identity of the targets being sought.
Colchado’s relief attempt was registered the same day that the officer presented his defenses before the PNP Inspectorate, where he was denounced by President Pedro Castillo. The greatest weight of the investigations falls on the Digimin Search Division, which is headed by Colonel PNP Harvey Colchado.
Scene No. 1: the relay
The head of Digimin, Whitman Ríos, who reports directly to the Minister of the Interior, Willy Huerta Olivas, ordered Harvey Colchado Huamaní to be relieved.
Scene No. 2: reincorporation
Minister Huerta says that he knew nothing about the change in Colchado, disavows his removal and orders an investigation of those responsible for the incident.
