Former Bolivian judge arrested on drug trafficking charges in Santa Cruz
Bolivian authorities have arrested ex-chief justice Aldo Quezada in Santa Cruz on drug trafficking suspicions. The arrest is part of a US-backed crackdown targeting officials with cartel links.
Ex-chief justice detained in Bolivia amid US-backed cartel crackdown
Bolivian authorities have arrested a former senior judge on suspicion of drug trafficking as part of a broader US-backed operation targeting officials with alleged links to organised crime, aljazeera.com reports.
Prosecutor Marcelo Inchausti told reporters that Aldo Quezada was taken into custody at his home in Santa Cruz, eastern Bolivia, on Wednesday, on suspicion of drug trafficking and criminal association.
Quezada had resigned last month as chief justice of the Santa Cruz departmental court after his name appeared on a US visa restrictions list for alleged ties to drug trafficking. Washington has also cancelled the visas of officials in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru under the same policy.
He is among a number of senior Bolivian judicial figures arrested since September on suspicion of cartel links. Former Attorney General Roger Mariaca was detained on September 30 on suspicion of money laundering and drug trafficking; police reportedly discovered bundles of cash being smuggled out of his residence.
In September, the Trump administration imposed "visa restrictions on twelve Bolivian nationals and their families", according to a US State Department statement.
Bolivia's conservative President Rodrigo Paz took office on 8 November 2025, ending nearly two decades of Movement for Socialism governance, and has since sought closer ties with Washington. Paz has signed Bolivia up to US President Donald Trump's "Shield of the Americas", a new US-backed security alliance for the region.
Source: Google News IE — Crime (en)