Twenty Years After brutal Kidnapping-Murder, Key Figure Apprehended โฃin โฃAragua
After โtwoโ decades on the โคrun, Gabriel Alexander Garcรญa Peรฑaloza, 43, โขhas been arrested in Cagua, Aragua state,โฃ for hisโ role in the horrific 2006 kidnapping and murder of three โbrothers and their driver. The arrest, carried โout by members of the Special Actionsโฃ Group (Gaes) No. 42 of Aragua, under the National Anti-Extortion and โKidnapping Command (Conas), brings a measure of โclosure to a case that shockedโฃ venezuela.
Garcรญa โPeรฑaloza, known by the alias “Chande Bemba,” was โa principal participant in the abduction of โขJason Faddoul (17), Kevin Faddoul (13), John Bryan Faddoul (12), and their driver, Miguel Rivas. The crime unfolded inโ February โฃ2006,during the presidency ofโข Hugo Chรกvez,when the victims were stoppedโ by individuals posing as officers โคof the defunct Metropolitan Police at aโข fake checkpoint in the Vista Alegre sector while enโฃ route to the Nuestra Seรฑoraโค del Valle school.
The โฃkidnappersโ initially demanded a ransom of $4.5 โคmillion (equivalent to 10 billion bolivars at the time). โDespiteโฃ theโข family’s effortsโ to โgather the funds and negotiate, the perpetrators abandoned the exchange upon suspecting police involvement.โข
Tragically, 41โ days later, on April 4, 2006, the bodies ofโ allโค four โvictims were discovered in the El Lechozal sector of San Antonio de Yare,โ Valles del Tuy. Authorities confirmed they โขhad โendured torture and wereโข killed byโข shotgun blasts to the head.
At the โtime of the crime, Garcรญaโ Peรฑaloza was 23 yearsโ old andโฃ had a history of vehicle theft. โฃHe had been livingโค openly inโค Cagua, approximately an hour and a half from Caracas,โค where the โขinitial kidnapping occurred. According toโข the Integrated Police โฃData System (Sipol),โ Garcรญa Peรฑaloza was subject to threeโฃ outstanding arrest warrants, including one specifically for the Faddoul โฃcase and others โrelated to vehicle theft.
Whileโข Garcรญa Peรฑaloza has been apprehended, others involved in the crime have already been sentenced to the maximum penalty of 30 years in prison. This recent arrest represents a significant โdevelopment in bringing all those responsible for this heinous โactโ to justice.
