Colombian was dismembered and found in a suitcase in Malta: alleged perpetrator identified

On December 9, while two French children noticed an unusual suitcase moving near a luxurious pier in the city of Sliema, in the northeast of the archipelago of Malta,
They alerted of the event. When two adults managed to remove the backpack with difficulty, which still had the label from the store where it had been purchased, When they opened it, they realized that it contained the dismembered body of a man.

It was a Colombian man whose name was Raoul Eduardo Rei, who was attacked by Andrés Leonardo Gamboa Durán, a 43-year-old man from Cucuta, in charge of dismembering the body and throwing it into the Mediterranean Sea. According to the official report from the authorities and judicial sources to the local media Malta Todaythey also found some bags with 101 cocaine capsules, which made them think it could be a ‘mule’ or drug transportation employee in the European country.

(Read also: Colombian lost his life in Australia and his family is seeking help to repatriate the body)

In this way, on Monday, December 23Andrés Leonardo Gamboa confessed before a court in Malta what he knew about the events, given that he had found Raoul Eduardo without vital signs inside his apartment located in the city of Msidain the port of the northwest of the island, confirming in turn that knew the victim.

Details before the atrocious event in Malta of the two Colombians

“I panicked” was what Andrés Durán said in his testimony presented in court, Since upon noticing this he destroyed Raoul Eduardo’s passport and documents. According to what the media quotes, he mentioned that The person involved then bought an ax and a suitcase in San Gwann, another town 2.6 kilometers from his home, and then cut up the body.

With very specific descriptions, The man from Cucuta confessed that after dismembering the body, he walked with the backpack for a kilometer towards Argens Street in Gzira without “knowing what to do with it,” until he finally decided to throw it into the sea. According to the inspector of the case, Gamboa was surprised and disappointed when he noticed that The suitcase did not sink.

Who was the dismembered Colombian found in Malta?

According to the autopsy revealed on December 23, 2024, The body identified was that of Colombian Raoul Eduardo Rei, who was born in 1974.. Fingerprint records obtained with the support of Interpol confirmed his identity. Andrés Durán claims that this man was a drug ‘mule’.

The study of the lifeless body revealed that there were more than 100 cocaine capsules in the stomach and The cause of his possible death was asphyxiation. Police have not filed murder charges against Andrés Gamboa, stating that Possibly the victim was already dead when he was dismembered.

The middle Malta Today states that the subject was arrested near his home after a surveillance operation, in which his apartment was searched and found “cocaine, drug trafficking paraphernalia, a receipt from a convenience store for the purchase of bleach, detergents, garbage bags and cleaning cloths and a package of adult diapers that had been opened and was missing only one “.

Matthew Mirabelli

According to the authoritiesthe body was found without clothesExcept for an adult diaper, he also had his hands and feet cut off and stuffed into plastic bags. The police, after their investigationidentified a few blocks away and in the same city that the captured man had another apartment, which was inspected. However, it was described as “immaculate and strangely empty.” No sheets on the bed, no food or clothes in the closets. Except for the bathroom, where was an ax wrapped in blue plastic that matched the one mentioned by Durán in his interrogation, where he was seen buying it in a store in San Gwann.

According to what the media explains Times of Maltaforensics found “two small bones and traces of blood near a bathroom drain.” The authorities detailed that all the evidence linked him to the crime. Andrés Durán admitted that said weapon was used in the dismemberment and he said that he worked alone. Until now, The subject faces charges of concealment of a corpse, destruction of evidence, drug possession and trafficking, money laundering and illicit enrichment.

Magistrate Astrid May Grima ruled at the hearing that there is sufficient evidence for The man is put on trial, and the case is projected to resume on January 30, 2025, as quoted in local media.

(Read also: Foreigner was found dead in Sabaneta, Antioquia: he would have been seen with two women)

The clues to find the person accused of the event

It took three days to locate the 43-year-old Colombian, Andrés Leonardo Gamboa Durán. It all happened thanks to the label that was engraved on the black, eight-wheeled suitcase that was found on the luxurious pier in the city of Sliema.

Chris Sant Fournier

The clue was given with the help of the store’s security cameras, where the images show the man buying a suitcase with said descriptions and the recordings confirmed it. These were found a day before the body was found.

With these videos, The judicial agents also verified that the suspect had purchased an ax and was then seen walking a short distance away to get into a taxi. The capture of the Colombian occurred around 11:20 am on December 12, 2024, three days after the body was discovered, in front of one of Andrés Durán’s properties.