2023-09-24 07:01:00
Thirteen social media influencers have been held accountable in court in the last eight years, prosecuted for matters as serious as money laundering, child sexual predation and even alleged militancy in organized crime groups.
Their stories return to memory after the recent capture of “Linda Caramelo”, the internet diva involved in an alleged frontman network of the Clan del Golfo.
Each case has become a media scandal, due to the thousands of followers who see these people as role models.
Of the 13 cases reviewed, which involve some of the most recognized influencers, four have to do with drug matters, three with money laundering, three with sexual crimes, two with robberies, among other criminal charges.
At the moment, there are four who have convictions, according to judicial databases: Aida Victoria Merlano, Angélica Hernández (“Angelita Hera”), Daneidy Barrera (“Epa Colombia”) and Fernsterbein Ramírez (“DJ Fexter”).
Excluded from this list are other influencers who have also engaged in conduct contrary to the norm, but who have only received summonses for violating the Police Code.
1). Ceci Yulieth Pino Restrepo
Nickname: Linda Caramelo or Linda R21.
Charged crimes: money laundering and illicit enrichment of individuals.
Facts: captured by Dijín on August 29, 2023 in the municipality of Turbo, Antioquia, and accused of being an alleged front woman at the service of the Clan del Golfo criminal organization. According to the authorities, she is the lover of Wilmer Urrego Torres, one of the money launderers of that cartel, who had already been captured along with several members of his family.
With the mafia’s money, Linda Caramelo apparently increased her assets, raffled off motorcycles and vouchers for cosmetic surgeries, built luxury houses in depressed areas of Turbo and ran a fleet of 80 motorcycles, several of them used by motorcycle taxi drivers. .
A guarantee control court in Medellín gave her the benefit of house arrest, while the process continues, so she returned to one of her homes in Turbo and thanked her fans for their support on social networks.
2). Alfredo Villamizar Moreno
Pseudonym: Diva Villamizar.
Charged crimes: attempted qualified and aggravated robbery.
Facts: In April 2023 he was captured in Valledupar, as part of an investigation into an alleged attempted robbery of some merchants in Medellín. He was imprisoned for four months and was released on conditional release while his situation was determined. However, he died last week, the victim of a robbery in which he was given a lethal dose of scopolamine.
3). Veronica Tovar Burbano
Pseudonym: Vero Huesos.
Charged crimes: aggravated criminal conspiracy and drug trafficking.
Facts: captured in July 2023, as part of a raid against the “Los Queseros” gang from Cali, in which 14 other people were arrested. According to the Prosecutor’s Office, this group acquired marijuana and cocaine from the department of Cauca to distribute them on the streets of Cali, especially near schools. She pleaded not guilty, but was sent to jail.
4). Aida Victoria Merlano Manzanedo
Pseudonym: None.
Charged crimes: use of minors to commit crimes, escape of prisoners and illicit enrichment.
Facts: In 2022, the justice system sentenced her to seven years and six months for her participation in the escape of her mother, former congresswoman Aida Merlano Rebolledo (October 1, 2019). In this incident, which occurred when the politician was attending a dental appointment under Inpec custody, the influencer instrumentalized her 17-year-old younger brother to transport items used in the escape, such as a rope.
Despite the conviction on charges of prisoner escape and use of minors to commit crimes, he enjoys the benefit of conditional release, while the court of second instance resolves the appeals.
In addition to this case, in September 2022 the Prosecutor’s Office charged him with illicit enrichment, for the alleged creation of a civil engineering company with money of dubious origin, which would be a front to hide his mother’s assets. She has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial.
5). Diego Bautista Lazaro
Pseudonym: Diego Zas.
Charged crimes: abusive sexual act with a minor under 14 years of age.
Facts: the CTI captured him in 2020 in Cúcuta, following a complaint from a mother, who said that her 8-year-old son was a victim of abuse for 12 months and infected with a venereal disease. According to the Prosecutor’s Office, “he used social networks to publish videos with children and support sports groups, which he took advantage of to summon minors under the pretext of lending them the video game console.”
6). Bairon Olaya
Pseudonym: Tumaco.
Charged crimes: conspiracy to commit a crime, qualified and aggravated theft, and forced displacement.
Facts: the Police captured him along with three people in July 2022, pointing out that he was part of a gang of motorcycle thieves that commits crimes in Cali, known as “the Alen”. According to the investigation, Tumaco recorded videos with which he taught the minors how they should rob the motorcyclists and how they should escape with the vehicle. The suspect pleaded not guilty and is currently free; According to him, it was a police setup.
7). Fernsterbein Fernando Ramírez Meléndez
Nickname: DJ Fexter.
Charged crimes: conspiracy to commit a crime, arms trafficking, kidnapping and attempted murder.
Facts: Interpol and the Dijín accused him of being the leader of “los Mellos”, a drug trafficking and hitman gang that acted as a tentacle of “los Rastrojos” in San Andrés Islas. He carried out this activity at the same time that he promoted himself on social networks and electronic parties as a disk jockey, organized celebrity parties and rubbed shoulders with showbiz stars. He was captured in 2015 in Italy and deported to Colombia the following year. Sentenced to 15 years in prison.
8). Carlos Mario Gamarra Zúñiga
Pseudonym: Maura Arrives.
Charged crimes: human trafficking, constraint into prostitution, pimping and conspiracy to commit a crime.
Facts: The transgender influencer was arrested in May 2023 along with 11 other people, involved in a prostitution, child sexual exploitation and drug trafficking network, which operated in the tourist areas of Cartagena. According to the Prosecutor’s Office, the network used minors to offer sexual services and drugs to foreigners. Although she pleaded not guilty, she was sent to jail while she continues the trial.
9). Rafael Kuang Li
Pseudonym: El Chino.
Charged crimes: manufacturing, trafficking or possession of drugs.
Facts: The Police Sijín captured him in 2019, when they raided his house in the municipality of Palmira (Valle) and found 54 grams of amphetamines or ecstasy, 13 grams of marijuana and three grinders.
In the opinion of the Prosecutor’s Office, the influencer and bodybuilder was an alleged drug distributor, although at the guarantee control hearing the court granted him freedom, alleging that he had no criminal record.
In his defense, Kuang Li pointed out that the seized drugs were for his personal consumption, and that he was the victim of an envious person who called the Police to search his house.
He is currently free.
10). Jenny Lizeth Ambuila Chará
Pseudonym: None.
Charged crimes: money laundering, promoting smuggling and illicit enrichment.
Facts: captured in 2019 for her alleged participation in a smuggling, bribery and money laundering network directed by her father Ómar Ambuila, director of the DIAN in Buenaventura. The influencer, who was studying in the US, was famous for showing off a Lamborghini and other luxuries on social media. In 2020 she was released due to the expiration of terms, but she remains in the trial stage and with an active investigation by the Treasury Department in the US.
eleven). Angelica Hernandez Ramirez
Pseudonym: Angelita Hera.
Charged crimes: aggravated criminal conspiracy, drug trafficking and encouragement of illicit drug use.
Facts: captured in 2020, after the Prosecutor’s Office accused her of belonging to the “Academics” gang, which distributed food impregnated with narcotics in educational institutions in the Coffee Region. According to the accusing body, the model and former reality show participant used her image as a hook to attract clients, and on her social networks she promoted illegal products. Because she was pregnant, she was granted house arrest after six months of arrest.
Although he always claimed to be innocent and the victim of a plot against him, he ended up signing a preliminary judicial agreement for the charge of encouraging the illicit use of drugs. He paid 36 months in detention and is now free.
12). Daneidy Barrera Rojas
Pseudonym: Epa Colombia.
Charged crimes: disruption of public transportation, damage to property of others and instigation to commit a crime for terrorist purposes.
Facts: On November 22, 2019, during a day of social protests in Bogotá, he destroyed the furniture at the Transmilenio station in the Molinos neighborhood with a hammer, while broadcasting it on social networks inviting others to do the same.
The Superior Court of Bogotá sentenced her in the second instance to 5 years in prison and prohibited her from using social networks, but she has not paid for a single day in cell, because she appealed the decision and this appeal has not been defined by the Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, she remains free, working as a cosmetic product entrepreneur.
13). Krishan Agarwal
Pseudonym: Orion Depp.
Charged crimes: sexual exploitation of minors, production and distribution of audiovisual material for pornographic purposes, and drug trafficking.
Facts: The American influencer, who lived in Medellín, was captured by the Police on August 18, accused of sexually abusing several girls from the Aburrá Valley. Some were tricked into contracts to be webcam models, and others were seduced with money in subway stations. He pleaded not guilty and a judge sent him to Bellavista prison.
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