Three armed and hooded men posed as agents of the National Police and the National Anti-Drug Secretariat (Senad) to break into the home of 38-year-old prison officer Manuel Galván during the early hours of Sunday, June 1, in the San José neighborhood of San Salvador, Guairá department.
The crime occurred around 1:20 a.m. The assailants, carrying long guns, claimed to be police officers and anti-drug agents in order to gain entry to the property. Once inside, they tied Galván up with cords on his arms and legs and ransacked the entire house in search of money and valuables.
The criminals took approximately G. 280 million in cash, an undocumented 9mm pistol, a .22 semi-automatic rifle, and a high-end cell phone. Before leaving the scene, they damaged the property's closed-circuit camera system, apparently to destroy evidence.
After robbing the main house, the perpetrators moved to a second property belonging to the victim, located about 50 meters away, from which they stole two motorcycles: a red 2023 Kenton Dakar and a blue Yamaha MT-03. The vehicles were used in their escape.
Officers from the 19th Police Precinct, supported by the Department of Criminal Investigation and the Criminalistics Department, went to the scene and began their inquiries. The Guairá Police Director, Commissioner General José María Martínez, oversaw the investigations.
As a result of area sweeps, the two motorcycles were found abandoned around 9:30 a.m. that same Sunday on an old railway track along a road connecting San Salvador to Ñumí. The National Police and the Public Prosecutor's Office continue working to identify the perpetrators and determine whether they belong to a gang specialized in this type of robbery.
According to data from the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF), a prison officer's salary is G. 4,800,000 (roughly USD 630 at current exchange rate), which raises questions about the origin of the large amount of cash found at the victim's residence.
In a separate operation in Caaguazú department, agents from the Department of Criminal Investigation arrested five armed men on the night of Monday, June 2, on suspicion of planning an aggravated robbery in the city of Dr. Juan Manuel Frutos (Pastoreo). During the approach, they were found in possession of long and short firearms, cell phones, and leather gloves.
One of those detained, 24-year-old Julio Rodrigo Sosa Núñez, had outstanding arrest warrants for aggravated robbery and sexual abuse of minors. The others were identified as José Armando Quiñónez Martínez, Octavio Machado Romero, Daniel Rosario Villamayor, and Daniel Peña Machuca.
Investigators confirmed that the vehicle used by the group, a Toyota Corolla with no license plate, had been stolen during a violent robbery on Saturday at a used car dealership in Limpio, where criminals assaulted the owner and took two cars. Authorities are assessing whether the detainees are the perpetrators of that crime.