Antioquia merchant kidnapped in Segovia freed after ransom demand reached 6 billion pesos

After days of fear and uncertainty in northeastern Antioquia, merchant and Segovia municipal contractor Luis Alexander López Restrepo is back with his family. Locals know him affectionately as “Pistolo.”

Armed men intercepted López Restrepo on Aug. 27 in Carrizal, a rural area between Segovia and Remedios, while he attended a farmers’ fair. After the kidnapping, he managed to call relatives and tell them he had been detained.

The ransom demands drew particular attention. The kidnappers reportedly first asked for 10 billion pesos, then lowered the amount to 6 billion pesos. The case prompted the intervention of the Police Gaula anti-kidnapping unit and an urgent call from Antioquia Governor Andrés Julián Rendón to intensify operations in the area.

López Restrepo was eventually handed over in the Minas Nuevas sector following mediation by the local Community Action Board, according to Corpades and community leaders. He later passed through Carrizal on his way back to Segovia.

The community welcomed his safe return. Security agencies will now seek to establish exactly how the kidnapping occurred, identify those responsible and determine which illegal armed groups may have been involved in the territorial dispute in the region.