The man was wanted by the Training Unit of the Transport Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation for the North-West Federal District – credit Kayak
On September 18, 2024, the Supreme Court of Justice issued its ruling on the extradition of a Colombian who, for more than 10 years, dedicated himself to stealing jewelry from the inhabitants of Saint Petersburg, Russia. This decision was made one year after his capture.
In this case, it is Fredy Alberto Patiño Ávila, who was captured in Soacha on August 29, 2023, since at that time he was traveling in an armored Toyota TXL truck with dark windows.
You can now follow us on Facebook and in our WhatsApp Channel.
The man was wanted by the Training Unit of the Transport Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation for the North-Western Federal District. The crime for which he is accused is “theft (clandestine theft of another’s property, committed by an organized group on a particularly large scale)”.
According to the movements detected by the authorities, Patiño Ávila traveled continuously to Saint Petersburg to carry out robberies against participants in art exhibitions. The authorities had been following him since February 2012, when he entered the Lenexpo exhibition complex, located in the exclusive Vasileostrovsky district, with the aim of identifying his victims.
According to The Timethe file reveals that the thief, along with other people, arrived in Saint Petersburg on January 30, 2012, where he made multiple visits to the exhibition. “They arrived between February 1 and 5, 2012 at the Exhibition complex Lenexpo to monitor participants in the jewelry exhibition and to select potential victims, then accompany them to the end of the exhibition outside the exhibition complex to secretly steal their own jewelry.”
Patiño Ávila traveled continuously to Saint Petersburg to rob participants in art exhibitions – credit Supreme Court of Justice
Furthermore, it is read in the document, which the Supreme Court of Justice has, that “On 02/05/2012 Patiño Ávila, together with the members of a network, at 2:20 p.m., got into car No. 3 of the train. “Sapsan” passenger station of St. Petersburg-Moscow and on the passenger platform, they secretly robbed a member belonging to the aforementioned jewelry exhibition.”
The specific theft included a brown leather suitcase valued at 3,000 rubles, which contained gold and silver jewelry, clothing, three silver-bodied flash memory cards, three additional pieces of jewelry, and a gift statue in the shape of an elephant. The total value of the stolen objects amounted to 2,188,236 rubles (equivalent to 100 million pesos).
On the same day, at 7:50 pm at the entrance to the Pulkovo-1 airport, located in Moscow, “secretly, deliberately motivated, the organization robbed the participant of the jewelry exhibition, the financial director of “SitiTreyd”, a Turkish citizen. They took a red bag that had money and 22 jewelry in it. With the stolen suitcase and the stolen jewelry, the total amounted to 31,305,750 rubles (1.4 billion pesos), the file says.
In 2017, Patiño Ávila was captured in Colombia, according to records. However, due to Russia’s delay in sending the required documentation, he was released – credit EFE
On February 14, 2012, at the Domodedovo airport, several members of the organization were detained, although Patiño Ávila managed to avoid capture and “his whereabouts have not been established to date,” according to one of the sections of the text with the one whose extradition is requested.
In 2017, Patiño Ávila was captured in Colombia, according to records. However, due to Russia’s delay in sending the required documentation, he was released.
The file, which is in the office of Judge Gerardo Barbosa Castillo, according to the aforementioned media, includes a letter presented by Gorlenko Sergey Vladimirovich, assistant to the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation, on April 1, 2022. This document clarifies that the crimes attributed to the Colombian citizen are punishable by a sentence of 10 years in prison.
The aforementioned document, along with other additional documents, was sent to the office duly certified and authenticated by the authorities of the requesting country, Russia, and translated into Spanish. “In addition, they are duly apostilled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, which allows us to affirm that they comply with the applicable regulations of said country,” according to the case file.
