The priest of the Iglesia Santa Ana in Navarette declared that drugs are readily available in the town, as reported in Hoy newspaper. This statement comes on the heels of the assassination of seven men, whose bodies were found in a house under construction last week. Priest Felipe Enerio Valerio commented that the bodies bore more than 10 bullet wounds each and he gave credence to the police report that determined the crime had been planned. Investigators believe that seven people, of whom one remains at large, were involved in the mass homicide. Of the seven, four have been apprehended and charged with drug trafficking.
“This tragedy had been in the planning because the conflicts between the groups were escalating. Even in the park, they would occasionally clash because drugs were being sold as if it were rice in the shops,” he told the newspaper. He said that the situation had so degenerated because the authorities have turned a blind eye to the activity. According to Valerio, there are 20 points of sale in the city and “everyone knows where they are.” The parish priest furthermore said that police officers are involved in the trafficking of drugs.
The newspaper includes the opinion of a city lawyer who said that silence is the best accomplice, given the fear that the drug traffickers generate in the population.