The National Liberation Army (ELN) released two agents from the Directorate of Criminal Investigation and Interpol (DIJIN) who had been held since July 2025 in Arauca.
Officers Franki Esley Hoyos Murcia and Yordin Fabián Pérez Mendoza regained their freedom on June 16, 2026, after nearly eleven months in captivity. The National Government Delegation in the Peace Dialogues with the ELN and the Ombudsman's Office confirmed the handover, which was accompanied by a humanitarian mission including the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Catholic Church, the OAS Peace Support Mission and the UN Verification Mission.
The ELN's Eastern War Front Commander in Chief Manuel Vásquez Castaño issued a statement noting that the police were being placed in “full freedom” due to an alleged “sentence served”. Various sectors questioned that argument because the armed group unilaterally imposed a sentence on the officers.
The ELN confirmed that it still holds two officials from the Technical Investigation Corps of the Attorney General's Office, Jesús Antonio Pacheco Oviedo and Rodrigo Antonio López Estrada, kidnapped since May 2025 in Fortul, Arauca, whom it sentenced to between 55 and 60 months.
