Global Courant
“I was at the top of the pyramid.” This is how the judges of the Federal Oral Court Nr.
In July 2020 -in the midst of the Coronavirus pandemic and after two years of oral debate- the Justice sentenced a large part of the Triana Peña gang, including Erman’s younger brother, Williams (41), detained in Colombia in 2016 and extradited to Argentina. Erman never claimed to be captured despite the fact that he had an Interpol red notice since September 18, 2015.
That, until now.
As officially reported by the Portuguese police, Erman fell within the framework of an investigation for drug trafficking, in which a ton of cocaine was seized from a sailboat about to sink, off the Azores islands.
Interpol’s search for Erman Triana Peña, the Colombian drug trafficker accused in the “narcoarroz” case.
He was captured on Monday, June 26, along with seven other people – including the two crew members of the sailboat – but his arrest was made official before the Argentine authorities in the last hours of this Wednesday.
Erman Triana Peña operated under a false identity. For this reason, despite suspicions about his true identity and an unofficial report from the DEA, the news was only confirmed when his fingerprints could be matched.
the history of the clan
The Triana Peña story reached an oral trial in Argentina, without Erman, but with 17 defendants who were accused of being part of an illegal association and organizing three drug shipments, including one (boy) of 50 kilos of cocaine imbibed of rice that was going to be a way of testing the Argentina-Africa-Europe route.
The plan was for the drugs to leave the country by ship to Africa under the United Nations “Zero Hunger” program. But the cocaine was discovered in a warehouse in the city of Rosario.
In the trial -carried out by prosecutor Diego Velasco and the Narcocrime Prosecutor’s Office (PROCUNAR)- Williams Triana Peña and Erman Triana Peña were identified as the heads of a gang related to the Norte del Valle Cartel.
To “Willo” (as they call him), the TOF 5 sentenced him to 7 years in prison for illicit association, but acquitted him of three cases of drug smuggling. Williams served his sentence and for some time he has been coming and going from Colombia, prior requests to the court. But things did not end for him: in 2022 the Court of Cassation agreed with the prosecutor Velasco, aggravated the accusation and ordered the TOF 5 to issue a new ruling taking into account the three shipments for which he had been acquitted. This has not yet happened because the defenses appealed to the Supreme Court.
As regards his brother Erman, when the extradition from Portugal is completed, he will have an oral trial for himself, unless he decides to sign an abbreviated criminal trial, accepting his responsibility.
Willians Triana Peña, brother of the drug trafficker who fell in Portugal, and convicted in the same case.
The Triana Peña
Between the fall of 1970 and the summer of 1985, Gabriel Triana and María Peña had six children in their native Colombia. The first to arrive was Nelson. Fabio, María Elsa, Erman, Williams and Yoana followed. Over the decades, the Triana Peña began to strengthen themselves in the world of drug trafficking, within the power scheme of the Norte del Valle cartel, heirs in turn to the mythical Cali cartel.
They began operating in Argentina in the year 2000. Like other Colombian drug lords who emigrated in search of a quieter place for their families, they ended up in exclusive neighborhoods in the north of the suburbs, including some of the Nordelta complex, such as Los Sauces, Las Glorietas or The golf.
But before setting foot in Argentina (where they never finally settled despite processing their DNI as foreigners), the Triana Peña had already become somewhat famous in the rest of the continent. In June 2003, Erman was arrested in Colombia accused of belonging to an international network that sent cocaine by mail.
In December 2005, María Elsa (50) was one of the detainees of a mega-operation carried out in the Dominican Republic, where they kidnapped a record shipment of 39 kilos of heroin destined for the United States.
In 2008, Williams was investigated by the Colombian anti-laundering authorities because he suspiciously appeared in the gambling database as the winner, in March and May of that year, of two fractions of the Santander Lottery jackpot, a maneuver many times used to launder money.
In addition, the names of Erman, Fabio, Williams and María Elsa are linked to the Colombian company Construimos del Huila SA In 2009, the Bogotá-based firm was caught in the middle of a corruption scandal over alleged drug money laundering.
In Argentina, according to the Federal Court of Capital, at least two of the members of the clan –Erman and Williams– set up their network supplying Bolivian cocaine to different minor organizations.
The surname Triana Peña arose in the file of federal judge Sergio Torres – in charge of Narcoarroz – at the end of 2014, due to a curious episode that began to be discussed among the suspects, whose phones were tapped: the disappearance of a shipment of cocaine which was stored in a warehouse in Monte Grande, Esteban Echeverría district. The second lines had to give explanations because they were accused of “self-robbery.” It was then that Williams appeared on the scene, who had meetings with his subordinates in Paraguay and in Misiones to clarify the issue.
But Erman and Williams aren’t the only family under investigation. It was discovered that Nelson Triana Peña (53) was a member of the firm Wealthy Ranch SA, supposedly dedicated to agricultural businesses, with his brother Erman. Yoana (46, doctor) appears in the company Letstrade SA with whom, for the Justice, would be one of the main front men of the Triana Peña: the Argentine lawyer Guillermo Heisinger (63), a former official of Menemism.
Heisinger was arrested on September 19, 2015 in his charming apartment at 1500 Avenida Alvear. Those who participated in the operation will never forget it. To begin with, the lawyer attended them in a robe. In the living room, the photos of his boyfriend, the Colombian hairdresser Jorge Alexander Jacome López (41), Carlos Menem (autographed), Pope John Paul II, the priest José María Escrivá (founder of Opus Dei) and Eva Perón stood out.
“That’s Evita and the one next to her is my mom,” she told those in charge of the operation. Then he showered and walked around the house naked. His breaking point was when, pretending to be distracted, Heisinger tried to connect by phone with Yoana and Nelson Triana Peña.
Heisinger’s fate was zigzagging: he was imprisoned, he achieved residence, in 2020 the TOF 5 acquitted him, but two years later the Chamber of Cassation ordered that a new sentence be issued. His situation is in the hands of the Court, but the prognosis indicates that he would return to jail.
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