It was not a silly joke. The false threat that a young man made about a possible attack at Ariana Grande’s concert forced a great display of national security in vain.
The 22-year-old, a Colombian national with permanent residence, launched a social network threat against the producer of the event. It was a message in Arabic, in which an eventual fatality was announced.
He apparently wrote it using an Internet translator.
According to the Ministry of Public Security (MSP), more than 8.7 million colones were invested in the deployment of Public Forces units.
A total of 19 police patrol vehicles, 28 bikes, five police buses and 191 police officers were used,”
confirmed Carlos Hidalgo Flores, a spokesman for the MSP.
These data do not account for the deployment made by the other relief and safety bodies.
The threat of the suspect, named Caicedo Peláez, forced a large mobilization of personnel of the MSP, Judicial Investigation Agency (OIJ), Directorate of Intelligence and National Security (DIS), Fire Department and Red Cross on Saturday.
Caicedo was followed for several hours, until he was arrested at his home in Moravia. He was accompanied by his parents, two uncles and a minor.
When the agents entered and checked the property they found nothing suspicious. The young man then confessed to the agents and their parents that everything was a joke.
He was released at 8:00 p.m. on Sunday and will continue under investigation. The minister confirmed that he will wait for the outcome to take some measure regarding Caicedo’s immigration status.