The police in Colombia have announced the arrest of an individual suspected of working as a hitwoman for a criminal organization.
On December 1, the Departamento de Policía Magdalena Medio shared on social media that they had apprehended a woman, believed to be either 22 or 23 years old, suspected of being the notorious hitwoman ‘La Muñeca,’ also known as ‘The Doll’.
According to the police post, the woman, identified as Karen Julieth Ojeda Rodríguez, was “caught red-handed with a firearm in Barranca Bermeja”.
The shared footage shows a 9mm handgun, which has been seized and is undergoing ballistics testing to determine its connection to any criminal activities.
VICE reports that two other individuals have also been detained – an associate named ‘Leopoldo’ and a 24-year-old woman, Paula Valentina Joya Rueda, who reportedly refers to herself as Gorda Sicaria, or ‘Fat Hitwoman’.
Allegedly, Rodríguez started her career as a hitwoman at the age of 18, and over the years, she has established a small network of hitmen in Barrancabermeja, a municipality and city in Colombia.
She is accused of executing several murders for the gang Los de la M, amid an ongoing power struggle over drug trafficking in the region.
Rodríguez is also suspected of involvement in the death of a former partner, Deyvy Jesús García Palomino, on July 23 of this year, according to LibertadDigital.
Palomino, known by the moniker ‘Orejas’ or ‘Ears’, was reportedly ambushed by two motorbike riders and later found with gunshot wounds.
He was transported to a hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.
Rodríguez and Rueda have been charged with aggravated homicide.
Lieutenant Colonel Mauricio Herrera remarked on the arrests as “important results in combatting murder,” as reported by CBS News.
Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera, an academic and expert on criminal organizations, told NBC News: “Sometimes, criminal organizations offer some women the opportunity to develop a leadership scheme.
“And since prejudice and machismo make them invisible in some way — they can advance in those activities without being seen. And that is one thing that we have to increasingly understand.”