Bolivia enacts law to replace prosecutor Mariaca, detained over drug-trafficking links
President Rodrigo Paz signed a law to replace general prosecutor Roger Mariaca, arrested on alleged links to drug trafficking. Congress must vote on his suspension and appoint an interim prosecutor.
Paz enacts law to replace Bolivian general prosecutor detained over drug-trafficking links
Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz enacted a law on Friday to replace general prosecutor Roger Mariaca, detained on Wednesday after being flagged by the United States over alleged links to drug trafficking, according to clarin.com.
Mariaca headed the Public Ministry from 2024 until his arrest. Bolivian justice is now investigating him for money laundering, drug trafficking and organised crime, charges he denies.
Earlier this week, Washington revoked his visa along with those of other judges, high officials and businesspeople from Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.
The law approved by Congress stipulates that the general prosecutor will be suspended if a criminal charge is filed against him or if there is a restrictive court order, such as pre-trial detention.
"It is the fruit of investigation efforts and quiet, meticulous work," Paz said during the enactment ceremony, held at government headquarters. The president added that there are "some who through organised crime wanted or want to control state institutions".
Following the signing of the law, the full Congress must meet on Friday evening to vote on Mariaca's suspension and immediately appoint an interim prosecutor.
The Public Ministry had appointed Luis Montaño as interim, the longest-serving official in the institution, but Paz's government disavowed that appointment and even announced that Montaño could be detained for obstructing investigations against Mariaca.
According to the Ministry of Government, Mariaca allegedly provided protection to Uruguayan drug trafficker Sebastián Marset, captured by police in March this year and deported to the United States with DEA assistance.
In the same Wednesday operation, 13 other people were detained: three prosecutors, six Public Ministry officials and four individuals who attempted to withdraw approximately 300,000 US dollars from Mariaca's residence, hidden in an ambulance.
Paz highlighted the role of the Shield of the Americas, an alliance of right-wing governments promoted by the United States to combat transnational crime, in the detentions carried out this week.
Source: Google News BO — Crime