Alleged leader of the group killed in La Barranquita voluntarily surrendered to the prosecutor’s office in Santiago

Santiago.-Dereck Soto Mejía, known as Argelys and identified as the alleged leader of the criminal gang linked to the police operation in La Barranquita that left five dead, voluntarily appeared this Tuesday at the Palace of Justice in Santiago. The young man denied any connection to the crimes attributed to the group and rejected the accusations against him.

“They want to make me the head of a gang, when I left the streets a long time ago,” he declared to the press outside the prosecutor’s office.

Soto Mejía explained that he went to the court to sign for a pending process and admitted to knowing two of the deceased: José Vladimir Valerio, alias Vladi the Barber, and Edward Bernardo Peña, with whom he maintained family and social ties. You can also read: Accompanied by his lawyer Ángel Luciano, he assured that he has no pending lawsuits. The jurist described as a “malicious defamation” the accusations linking him to illicit activities and warned that they will take legal action against those who maintain these accusations.

“He’s a young man who has decided to walk the right path,” Luciano emphasized.

For his part, Soto Mejía expressed concern about what he considers a discrediting campaign against him, holding communicator Rubén Uceta responsible for putting his life and that of his family at risk. The operation in La Barranquita, which ended with the death of five men, is still under investigation by the Attorney General’s Office. The case keeps the population of Santiago in suspense, where family members and neighbors have offered contradictory versions about the actions of the National Police.