Preliminary hearing for Prosecutor Mariaca and three detainees begins at 05:00; prosecutors seek preventive detention
The virtual hearing takes place this Saturday to determine precautionary measures against the Attorney General Róger Mariaca and three other defendants charged with drug trafficking.
Attorney General Mariaca and three defendants face preliminary hearing over drug trafficking links
At 05:00 on Saturday 3 October, a preliminary hearing on precautionary measures against State Attorney General Róger Mariaca, Santa Cruz departmental prosecutor Alberto Zeballos, senior prosecutor Martín Irusta, and police major Rubén Aparicio will be held, according to El Deber.
The judicial proceeding will take place virtually under the direction of the 5th Court of Precautionary Instruction, as confirmed by lawyer Christian Sánchez, Mariaca's legal defence counsel.
The four defendants have been charged with drug trafficking, organised crime, and money laundering. The charges emerged following the release of a video featuring Uruguayan drug trafficker Sebastián Enrique Marset Cabrera.
The Public Prosecutor's Office requested six months of preventive detention for the four accused at the prisons of Patacamaya and San Pedro, both located in the La Paz department. Prosecutors Daniel Portales Barja and Edwin Sarmiento Valdivia, from the Specialised Prosecution Office for Drug Trafficking and Environmental Crimes, requested that Mariaca, Zeballos and Irusta be held at San Pedro, whilst for Aparicio they requested detention at Patacamaya.
The arrest of the four took place during the night of Wednesday 30 September. Aparicio was detained in La Paz; Irusta in Sucre; whilst Mariaca and Zeballos were apprehended at Viru Viru international airport by agents of the Special Police Intelligence Centre (CEIP).
The investigation has been underway for 10 months, as confirmed by the Minister of Government, Marco Oviedo. The Government initiated the investigation following suspected links between the accused and a criminal organisation engaged in drug trafficking.
Source: El Deber