Colombian police have arrested four people involved in the kidnapping of Luis Diaz’s father.

Four people have been arrested for their suspected involvement in the kidnapping of the father of Colombian footballer Luis Diaz, Colombian police said this Saturday, two days after the release of the Liverpool player’s father.

“We have arrested four people allegedly responsible for the kidnapping of Luis Manuel Diaz, thanks to the coordinated intervention of the prosecutor’s office and the authorities of the United Kingdom,” Colombian police said in a post on the social network X (formerly Twitter).

The suspects, who were carrying two firearms, were detained in Maicao and Barrancas, two cities located near the border with Venezuela. It was in Barrancas on October 28 that the player’s father was kidnapped along with his wife, who would be released a few hours later on the same day.

Authorities say the four detainees belong to a “criminal organization” called Los Primos, although they have not disclosed links between the group and the National Liberation Army (ELN), an armed guerrilla group operating in that country. American.

The ELN, which continues peace talks with the government, abducted on October 28 the parents of the Colombian international, who represented FC Porto between 2019 and 2022, from a car service in Barrancas, the family’s hometown, near the border with Venezuela. . The mother was released that same day.

More than 250 police and military personnel were mobilized for the searches. However, the ELN later stated that this presence on the ground made it difficult for the “quick and safe” release, leading to the withdrawal of units.

The kidnapping has jeopardized Colombia’s peace process, which began a year ago, as well as the ceasefire agreement in force since August 3.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro said at the time that the kidnapping had “shattered trust” between the parties, and Antonio García, the ELN military commander, admitted that Díaz’s kidnapping was a “mistake.”

Petro strives for a policy of “total peace” in Colombia, trying to disarm all illegal groups in the country.

ELN is a dissident faction of the now-defunct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) that has been fighting since 2016.

Kidnappings have been a “recurrent weapon” in Colombia’s six decades of civil conflict, with the ELN carrying out about 30 such cases between January and September this year, according to official sources.