Colombian police arrest four men allegedly involved in the kidnapping of Luis Diaz’s father… after he was held in captivity for 12 days following his seizure at gunpoint

Colombian police have arrested four men allegedly involved in the kidnapping of Luis Diaz’s father.

Luis Manuel Diaz was released on Thursday after 12 days in captivity after being taken by armed members of the left-wing guerrilla group Ejercito de Liberation Nacional (ELN) on October 28.

He and his wife were arrested at gunpoint when they stopped at a gas station to buy watermelons.

Now Colombian police say they have arrested four members of a criminal group called Los Primos (The Cousins).

“We have arrested four people allegedly responsible for the kidnapping of Luis Manuel Diaz,” Colombia’s National Police wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

Diaz Snr received medical care after being rescued after 12 days in captivity as his family and friends held their breath

He and his wife were shot at gunpoint by members of the left-wing guerrilla group Ejercito de Liberation Nacional (ELN).

William René Salamanca Ramírez, Director General of Colombia’s National Police, wrote: ‘In collaboration with @FiscaliaCol (the Office of the Attorney General), we captured four people accused of participation in Maicao and Barrancas (La Guajira). to the kidnapping of Mr. Luis Manuel Díaz, father of ‘Lucho’ Díaz, star of our Colombian football team.

“On the same day of the kidnapping, we launched ‘Operation Freedom’, which allowed us to identify the alleged intellectual and material authors, including the criminal group ‘Los Primos’, which commits crimes through criminal outsourcing.”

The arrested men are locally called Andrys Alcides Bolivar Bolívar; Marlon Rafael Brito Bolivar; Brayan Javier Morales Sanjuán; and Yerdinson Bolivar Bolivar, according to the Daily mirror.

While Diaz’s mother, Cilenis Marulanda, was released on the same night of the capture, his father endured twelve days of uncertainty.

Officials said they could not rule out the possibility that he had been smuggled across the border into Venezuela through dense jungle, meaning he would have been beyond the reach of Colombian police. A reward of around £40,000 was offered for crucial information.

Hundreds of people took to the streets of Barrancas to demand his safe release, with Colombian police and military working together in an attempt to bring him home safely.

He thanked God for a ‘second chance’ after being taken into the hands of a ‘humanitarian commission’

On Thursday he was taken into the hands of a ‘humanitarian commission’ consisting of the Catholic Church and the UN.

Bursting into tears as he spoke for the first time since his release, Diaz Sr. said: “I ask my brothers from the mountains: let us put down our weapons, let us use the pen and the notebook, let us work to ensure that Colombia is the country with the best peace.

Friends and family gathered nearby to greet him on his return, with Diaz thanking God for “a second chance” after driving home.

“I thank Colombia for this great support,” he added. ‘I will soon have the opportunity to greet them and give them a hug. Thank you very much, my people.’