Pedro Jose “Tata” Silva Ochoa, 47, of Bogota, Colombia was extradited from Chile to the United States on April 17, 2024. He will make his initial court appearance in Miami, Florida, USA before Magistrate Judge Jonathan Goodman at around 1:30 p.m. on April 18, 2024.
Pedro Jose Silva Ochoa from Colombia to Chile
On March 5, 2020, two U.S. soldiers went to a bar called El Pub in Zona T, an entertainment district in Bogota, to watch a soccer game. They were on assignment with the U.S. Army in the city and were off-duty that day.
Inside the bar, Jeffersson Arango Castellanos, then 33, and Kenny Julieth Uribe Ciran, then 31, incapacitated the soldiers by putting benzodiazepines in their drinks. Silva, Arango and Uribe were members of a gang called Los Tomaseros.
Arango and Uribe escorted the two American soldiers into a waiting car driven by Silva. The suspects kidnapped the victims and took their cell phones, credit cards, debit cards and wallets.
The three kidnappers used the credit card of one of the soldiers and the debit card of the other soldier to make purchases and withdraw money. Both victims lost consciousness until March 6, 2020.
While Arango and Uribe stayed in Colombia, Silva illegally entered Chile and worked as a driver in Cerrillos, Santiago, Chile. In December 2020, Arango and Uribe were arrested in Colombia.
In May 2023, Arango was extradited from Colombia to the U.S. On August 15, 2023, Silva was arrested in Cerrillos.
In January 2024, Arango 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. Silva is facing the same charges.
CONAN Daily 