Colombia: 3 judicial officials slain in holdout rebel ambush

The same group has been behind a wave of drug-related violence, including the March kidnapping of three Ecuadorean newspaper workers who were later found slain. (Photo: Shutterstock)

BOGOTA – Colombian authorities say three judicial investigators have been killed in an ambush of their vehicle by a dissident rebel group along the country’s southern border with Ecuador.

Officials said Wednesday that two of the men were incinerated to death when their car was torched by holdout guerrillas from the demobilized Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.

The same group has been behind a wave of drug-related violence, including the March kidnapping of three Ecuadorean newspaper workers who were later found slain.

It’s not clear what the three judicial workers were investigating. But they were travelling through a municipality that is home to Colombia’s largest harvest of illegal coca crops.

Chief Prosecutor Nestor Martinez said he will honour their memory by redoubling efforts to attack criminal groups in the volatile area.