national

Statues smuggled out piecemeal

la prensa

neglect:Prosecutors say investigations and witnesses indicate that the monument disappeared from the park piece by piece.1107079

The sculpted figures belonging to the “Juegos de Antaño” were apparently secreted piece by piece from Parque Omar between 2006 and 2008, by officials working within the park administration and by former gang members attending the park-based drug rehabilitation program “Contigo Juventud,” according to a report yesterday by Anti-Corruption Prosecutor Ramsés Barrera.

Barrera explained that his office has obtained statements from witnesses who claim to have been present during the evening hours of Christmas 2006, when someone smuggled one of the statues out of the park warehouse in the back of a trash truck. In that case, he added, the stolen piece was one of 22 doves that were stored on the premises.

Another witness reported that a park maintenance employee broke into the warehouse and took one of the monument’s several human statues.

The anti-corruption prosecutor noted that yet another person alleged to have witnessed the theft of another of the bronze human figures, aided by a vehicle. That witness helped authorities to compile a portrait of the suspect, which Barrera said he has distributed to police.

"Everything seems to indicate that it was taken in pieces," reiterated Barrera.

So far, six people have been implicated in the theft, including three maintenance employees, two from the Institutional Protection Service and a member attending the rehabilitation program. Barrera said that those suspects are being detained, but declined to give further details.

The prosecutor commented that the investigations have demonstrated a consistent lack of control by the park administrators and those in charge of monitoring the premises.