Video Places Pataz Massacre Suspect Drinking Inside a Colombian Prison
PERU · JUSTICE
Key Facts
- —What surfaced Video of a prisoner drinking and toasting inside a maximum-security prison in Colombia.
- —Who Miguel Antonio Rodríguez Díaz, known as Cuchillo, a former Peruvian soldier.
- —What he is accused of Being the intellectual author of the Pataz massacre, in which 13 mine security workers died.
- —Where he is El Pedregal prison in Antioquia, Colombia, awaiting extradition to Peru.
- —What the video shows At least two mobile phones visible alongside him.
- —The concern That he continues to direct his organisation from inside.
A man awaiting extradition for thirteen murders appears on film toasting with other inmates. Two mobile phones are visible in the same frame.
Peruvian television has published video of the main suspect in the Pataz massacre. It shows him drinking inside the Colombian prison where he awaits extradition.
What the Video Shows
The footage was broadcast by the Peruvian programme Panorama and reported by Infobae Perú on 14 September 2026.
It shows Miguel Antonio Rodríguez Díaz drinking and toasting with other inmates.
At least two mobile phones are visible. Phones inside a maximum-security facility are prohibited, and they are the mechanism by which imprisoned leaders keep operating.
The Peruvian security analyst Pedro Yaranga described it as a breach of control. He urged that the extradition proceedings be accelerated.
The Case Behind It
The Pataz massacre took place in late April 2025 in Peru’s La Libertad region.
Thirteen mine security workers were killed. The attack was filmed and the footage circulated, which is how it functioned as intimidation.
Pataz is a gold-mining district where informal and illegal mining operate alongside formal concessions. Control of access to the shafts is what the violence is about.
Rodríguez Díaz is a former Peruvian military officer. Prosecutors allege he was the intellectual author rather than a participant.
Why He Is in Colombia
He was arrested in Medellín on 15 May 2025.
Peru obtained 36 months of preventive detention in May 2025. He has been held at El Pedregal prison in Antioquia since.
Extradition to Peru is pending and has not been completed. That is the delay the analyst was pointing at.
The case is therefore Peruvian in substance and Colombian in location. That combination is why it falls between the two countries’ news cycles.
The Name Confusion Worth Avoiding
There was an earlier and entirely different figure known by the same alias in Colombia.
Pedro Oliverio Guerrero Castillo, a paramilitary and trafficking leader who used the alias Cuchillo, was killed in 2010.
He has no connection to this case. Colombian archive material about him surfaces readily in searches on the alias.
The person in the video is Peruvian, and his case concerns Peru.
What It Says About Prison Control
Directing a criminal organisation from prison is a documented pattern across the region, not a Colombian peculiarity.
It depends on two things: communications and the ability to move money. A visible mobile phone addresses the first.
A maximum-security designation describes the building rather than the regime inside it. The distinction is the whole problem.
For Peru, the operational consequence is direct. Witness protection and the security of the Pataz proceedings depend on the accused being cut off.
The Extradition Question
Extradition between Peru and Colombia runs through the courts of the requested country and then a government decision.
Preventive detention gives a defined window, and 36 months is the period Peru obtained in May 2025. Roughly a third of it has passed.
Delay in these cases is usually procedural rather than political. Documentation, translation and appeals all add months.
The video changes the political temperature rather than the legal timetable. That is the pressure the Peruvian analyst was applying.
What Is Not Known
Neither the Colombian prison service nor the Colombian government had responded publicly at the time of writing.
The date on which the footage was recorded has not been established. Nor has its provenance been explained.
No extradition date has been published. It is also not known whether any internal investigation has been opened at El Pedregal.
More: Peru news and analysis, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is in the video?
Miguel Antonio Rodríguez Díaz, a former Peruvian soldier known as Cuchillo, held in Colombia awaiting extradition.
What is he accused of?
Being the intellectual author of the Pataz massacre of late April 2025, in which 13 mine security workers were killed.
Where is he held?
El Pedregal prison in Antioquia, Colombia, after his arrest in Medellín on 15 May 2025.
What does the video show?
Him drinking and toasting with other inmates, with at least two mobile phones visible.
Has he been extradited?
No. Extradition to Peru is pending.
Is this the Colombian trafficker of the same alias?
No. That man was killed in 2010 and has no connection to this case.
Sources: Panorama, Infobae Perú, Diario Correo.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error
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