Argentine cops charged with kidnapping

Buenos Aires, Nov 19 (IANS/EFE) Two Argentine policemen are under arrest and a retired cop is being sought on charges that they took part in the kidnapping of a Peruvian citizen in Buenos Aires, official sources said Thursday.

While patrolman Gaston Eduardo Aragon and Deputy Inspector Mariano Comello Potes were detained at their respective precincts in the capital, retired Maj. Juan Manuel Ferragud Marcucci managed to get away when police came to his home to arrest him.

The three men are accused in the August abduction of Peruvian national Victor Lazaro Castillo, who was freed after his mother paid a ransom of 7,000 pesos ($1,700).

Lazaro told investigators his captors identified themselves as policemen when they intercepted him on a street in Buenos Aires and that they held him for several hours at a police station.

Even after his release, the kidnappers demanded another 3,000 pesos ($760), Lazaro said.

Judge Norberto Oyarbide issued the arrest warrants for Aragon, Comello and Ferragud based on the findings of an internal police investigation, the sources said, adding that additional arrests might take place.

Argentine law mandates long prison terms for police found guilty of criminal offenses or serious malfeasance.

–IANs/EFE