Two weeks after the raid on President Dina Boluarte's house for a collection of high-end watches and jewelry that she has not yet been able to prove, Harvey Julio Colchado Huamaní, the colonel who led the operation, was temporarily removed from the leadership of the Division of High Complexity Crimes (Diviac) by the Inspectorate of the National Police of Peru. An administrative disciplinary procedure has been opened against him for infractions considered “very serious” for which he could be sanctioned with up to two years out of service.
On Thursday, April 11, Harvey Colchado turned 50 years old. That day he shared in his WhatsApp status a thematic cake showing an agent forcing a door, a fairly frequent scene for Diviac, a section that works together with a group of prosecutors in cases of organized crime that involve senior public officials. At night, a program on the Willax television channel showed and criticized the image, considering that the cake represents the scene of the break-in of Dina Boluarte's house last Good Friday. “Colchado celebrates birthday and makes fun of the President,” the program was titled.
In the Inspectorate's resolutions, where Harvey Colchado is suspended, those questions are echoed, emphasizing that they attack the institution and, of course, against the president, supreme head of the National Police. “From every point of view and common sense, it is reprehensible and absolutely irresponsible, lack of respect and consideration for the high position held by Mrs. Boluarte (...) The image in question has been replicated through different social networks, generating dozens of negative opinions that denigrate the image of the PNP,” the documents state.
The colonel's defense maintains that the theme of the cake - given by his team - does not refer to the raid on the head of state, and that in any case the decoration would not have to merit an investigation, much less a sanction. “It is not a mockery against the president, she has not presented it to be broadcast to the media and the interpretation of a journalist does not mean damage to the institutional image,” alleges lawyer Stefano Miranda.
The temporary separation at the head of Diviac possibly limits the assistance that Harvey Colchado provided to the Special Team of Prosecutors against Corruption in Power (Eficcop). Team that closely follows the investigations of the president's brother, Nicanor Boluarte, as well as the former presidents Pedro Castillo and Martín Vizcarra, and the former prosecutor of the Nation, Patricia Benavides, among other figures on the political scene.
Harvey Colchado has extensive experience within the police force. He participated in the capture of Florindo Flores Hala, a Peruvian terrorist and drug trafficker, nicknamed 'Comrade Artemio'; He also had an important role in the “Chavín de Huantar” operation that led to the release of more than seventy hostages at the residence of the Japanese ambassador in Peru in 1997; He commanded the arrest of Pedro Castillo, which frustrated his asylum in the Mexican embassy after his frustrated self-coup; and a few months ago, at the end of 2023, he led the raid on the Public Ministry by an alleged criminal organization led by the then National Prosecutor, Patricia Benavides. The attack on Dina Boluarte's house was the last of his most notorious efforts.
The suspension has generated the rejection of Marita Barreto, coordinating prosecutor of Eficoop, who assures that it is a vendetta against the colonel for investigating the tentacles of corruption. “It is a revenge of power. “They are tying him up,” she noted. It should be remembered that former President Pedro Castillo requested the retirement of Harvey Colchado due to the raid on the Palace in August 2022. This Monday Colchado presented a request that seeks to annul his temporary retirement from the Diviac. His replacement is uncertain.