Colombian 'Harry Potter' convicted of drugging, kidnapping and robbing two US army soldiers in Bogotá

MIAMI – Jeffersson “Harry Potter” Arango was a member of the Tomaseros, a former Colombian gang that drugged and kidnapped robbery victims in Bogota’s entertainment districts – and was hunted down after targeting the wrong men.

Records show that two U.S. Army soldiers, on temporary duty at the U.S. Embassy, ​​were not wearing their uniforms when they went to the Colombian Pub, a bar in Bogotá's Zona T, to watch a game of football.

The Tomaseros targeted them and it cost them dearly. More than four years later, in a Miami federal courtroom, Arango, now 36, was sentenced Thursday to 48 years and nine months in federal prison for his role in the 2020 heist.

Records show that one of the soldiers did not return home on March 5, 2020. Colombian police officers found him ill and disoriented on March 6, 2020 and took him to a clinic where a toxicology test was performed. tested positive for benzodiazepines.

Arango's accomplices, according to investigators, were a woman identified in records as Kenny “Hellen” Uribe, and two men identified as Himmer “Sobrino” Aguirre and Pedro “Tata” Silva.

The battered American soldiers lost their phones and wallets containing debit and credit cards. The Tomaseros separated them, made purchases and withdrew money from ATMs. Agents from the FBI's Miami field office investigated the case.

Arango was extradited from Colombia to the United States and appeared in court on May 5, 2023 in Miami. He pleaded guilty to kidnapping an internationally protected person, conspiracy to kidnap an internationally protected person, assault on an internationally protected person and conspiracy to assault an internationally protected person on January 26.

During his extradition, FBI agents escorted Silva, 47, who was hiding in Chile. He appeared in court April 18 in Miami. He faces charges of kidnapping an internationally protected person, conspiracy to kidnap an internationally protected person, assault on an internationally protected person and conspiracy to assault an internationally protected person.

If convicted, Silva faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.