'El Costeño,' implicated in the attack on Uribe Turbay, is charged with another murder.

The Prosecutor's Office charged Elder José Arteaga Hernández, alias "El Costeño," accused of coordinating the attack against Colombian senator and presidential candidate Miguel Uribe Turbay, with participating in the murder of a Mexican businessman on June 30 in Medellín.

The victim, a 54-year-old technology salesman, was shot while in a commercial establishment in the El Poblado neighborhood of Medellín, the capital of Antioquia, according to the Prosecutor's Office, which did not name the Mexican citizen.

" Investigative work revealed that the day before the events, Arteaga Hernández had traveled from Bogotá to the capital of Antioquia to coordinate the actions prior to the crime ," the Prosecutor's Office explained in a statement.

According to the National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences, the man suffered eight wounds that led to his death.

"El Costeño" allegedly participated in coordinating the murder of the Mexican citizen along with others, leading a prosecutor from the Medellín Police Station to charge him with "aggravated homicide and manufacturing, trafficking, carrying, or possessing firearms, accessories, parts, or ammunition."

Arteaga did not accept the charges brought against him in this case.

The man was captured on July 5 in a joint operation between the police and the Attorney General's Office in the town of Engativá, Bogotá, which includes the Modelia neighborhood where Senator Uribe Turbay was seriously wounded with two gunshots to the head and one to the left leg on June 7.

For this attack, Arteaga was wanted on charges of attempted aggravated homicide, manufacturing, trafficking, and carrying firearms, and using minors to commit crimes.

Uribe Turbay, a 39-year-old senator from the Democratic Center party, was attacked while speaking to a group of supporters as part of his activities ahead of the 2026 presidential elections.

The politician has remained in serious condition at the Santa Fe Foundation in Bogotá ever since, where he has undergone several surgeries.

Police had already arrested four people, including the 15-year-old who fired the weapon at Uribe Turbay. They were joined by Arteaga Hernández, considered a key figure in the investigation and for whom a reward of 300 million pesos (about $75,000) was offered.

EFE