A Colombian national pleaded guilty Friday, Jan. 26, 2024, in U.S. federal court for his role in drugging, kidnapping and assaulting two American soldiers who were on temporary assignment to Bogota, Colombia. (U.S. Army photo)
A Colombian national pleaded guilty Friday in U.S. federal court for his role in drugging, kidnapping and assaulting two American soldiers who were on temporary assignment to Bogota, Colombia.
Jeffersson Arango Castellanos, 36, and two other Colombian nationals targeted the soldiers on March 5, 2020, while they were at a bar in Zona T, an upscale entertainment district, according to court documents. The two soldiers, who are not named in the documents, went to the bar to watch soccer and dance.
Kenny Julieth Uribe Chiran and Pedro Jose Silva Ochoa were also indicted in the incident, according to court documents. However, the documents do not show whether Uribe or Silva have been extradited and no attorneys are listed for them.
At the bar, the Arango and Uribe put tranquilizers in the soldiers’ drinks while Silva waited outside with a car. The trio then kidnapped the soldiers and took their wallets, debit cards, credit cards and cellphones. Arango then used the cards to make purchases and withdraw cash.
The two soldiers lost consciousness during the ordeal, according to court documents. Their absence was immediately noted because they did not show up for work the next day.
One soldier was found in the afternoon in his apartment but could not remember how he got there. A woman called police when she saw the other soldier struggling to walk and falling in the street on the morning of March 6.
Police took him to a clinic, and he later took a taxi back to his apartment where a member of the U.S. Embassy’s security detail was waiting for him, according to court documents.
A toxicology screening at a local hospital confirmed the soldiers, who had bruises and abrasions, were drugged with benzodiazepines, which are tranquilizers.
Colombian National Police and the FBI worked jointly on the investigation and used surveillance footage from the bar and ATMs and stores where the cards were used. The soldiers were seen on video being escorted out of the bar after 2 a.m. and into a waiting car.
Colombian police then began intercepting calls on Arango’s phone. They heard Arango, Uribe and Silva discuss the events as a common scheme among them but that the coronavirus pandemic had slowed their efforts.
Arango and Uribe were arrested in Colombia in December 2020 on charges unrelated to the soldiers but for similar actions, according to court documents. An FBI agent then interviewed Arango, who admitted to drugging and robbing the soldiers.
In May, Arango was extradited to the U.S., where his case is with the Southern District of Florida. He pleaded guilty to kidnapping an internationally protected person, conspiracy to kidnap an internationally protected person, assaulting an internationally protected person and conspiracy to assault an internationally protected person. A sentencing date has not yet been set.
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to questions about the standing of the other two suspects.
