Officials of the Superintendency of Competition of El Salvador completed a three-day technical mission at Colombia’s Superintendency of Industry and Commerce, focused on the collection, preservation and analysis of digital evidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
BOGOT\u00c1, COLOMBIA A delegation from the Superintendency of Competition (SC) of El Salvador travelled to Bogot\u00e1 from 21 to 23 July 2026 for a specialized training programme on digital forensics applied to investigations of anticompetitive practices, delivered by the Superintendency of Industry and Commerce (SIC) of Colombia. The mission was carried out under the project \u201cStrengthening the investigative processes of the Superintendency of Competition of El Salvador\u201d, agreed within the framework of the XIII Meeting of the Joint Commission on Technical and Scientific Cooperation between the two countries, with the support of APC-Colombia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The delegation was composed of Frank Villalta, Director of the Information Technology Unit; Lenin Cocar, Coordinator of the Unit for Sanctioning Procedures on Anticompetitive Practices; and Marlon Funes, Preliminary Investigations Analyst, officials directly involved in dawn raids, evidence handling and the assessment of administrative sanctioning proceedings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Delivered jointly by SIC’s Forensic Laboratory (Office of Information Technologies) and its Delegature for Competition Protection, the programme followed digital evidence from seizure to litigation:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2022 Legal, ethical and evidentiary principles governing electronic evidence, including integrity, authenticity and admissibility criteria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2022 Chain of custody, forensic processing and preservation in administrative proceedings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2022 Collection of evidence from computers, mobile phones and other devices, with practical demonstrations of hardware and software tools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2022 Analysis techniques, laboratory management protocols, drafting of forensic reports and the role of the technical expert before decision-makers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A case study on non-compliance with the authority’s instructions illustrated the practical stakes: a company’s legal representative refused to authorize the forensic imaging of his corporate mobile phone and denied using instant messaging for business purposes, yet a review of lawfully obtained material revealed messaging exchanges linked to public procurement processes in which the company had participated. The session also addressed the defences most often raised against digital evidence and the authority’s responses, including the presumption of authenticity of data messages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The three days closed with an institutional dialogue on shared challenges and good practices, the award of certificates of participation, and agreement on two webinars to be held in August and November 2026 as the closing stage of the project. For the Superintendency of Competition, the mission reinforces the evidentiary basis of its investigations and its alignment with international standards on digital evidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n