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French man wanted in homicide arrested in Colombia

| January 14, 2021 11:12 AM

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — A French citizen wanted in his home country in connection with a homicide has been arrested in Colombia, authorities in the South American nation announced Thursday.

The man was identified as Tarek M‘Naouar. He was the subject of an Interpol red notice for a homicide in Pantin, France.

M‘Naouar was taken into custody at the bus terminal in Colombia’s capital, Bogota, where he had arrived from Cartagena, a port city on the country’s Caribbean coast, according to the Colombian Prosecutor’s Office. His capture was the result of a joint investigation between Colombian authorities and the United States Marshals Service, an arm of the U.S. Department of Justice.

Authorities said M ‘Naouar was carrying a potentially false ID belonging to a person from Tunisia. They said he entered Colombia in 2018 but did not explain how he managed to do so.

M‘Naouar was sentenced to 30 years in prison by the Seine-Saint-Denis Court, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

Authorities added that the victim of the homicide was a French citizen who was found cremated in the trunk of a high-end vehicle in Belgium with signs of torture.

The Colombian government informed the French Embassy of the arrest in order for extradition to proceed.