Former attorney general Mariaca imprisoned in Cantumarca ten days after receiving municipal honour in Santa Cruz
Former attorney general Róger Mariaca received the Municipal Merit Award of Santa Cruz on 23 September and was remanded in custody on 3 October on suspicion of links to drug trafficking.
From the honour roll to Cantumarca prison in ten days
Róger Mariaca went from being publicly recognised by the Municipal Council of Santa Cruz de la Sierra to being detained in Cantumarca prison, Potosí, within the span of ten days. The former attorney general was remanded in custody by judicial order within an investigation into alleged offences linked to drug trafficking, according to El Deber.
On 23 September, as part of celebrations marking the 216th anniversary of Santa Cruz, the Municipal Council awarded Mariaca the Municipal Merit Honour in the Civic Service category, Professional division. The distinction was formalised through Municipal Autonomous Law No. 1899, which was promulgated that same day. The Council president, Luisa Nayar, presented the recognition. Mayor Carlos Manuel Saavedra added a second distinction, highlighting, according to the institutional report from the Public Prosecutor's Office, the contribution of authorities and institutions to the development of the region.
At that ceremony, Mariaca thanked the award and stated that it represented a commitment to continue working from the Public Prosecutor's Office, promoting an administration of justice that was "close" and "transparent".
Mega-operation and preventive detention
The situation changed with the mega-operation deployed between 30 September and 1 October, which resulted in the apprehension of Mariaca along with the departmental prosecutor of Santa Cruz, Alberto Zeballos; the superior prosecutor, Martín Irusta; and police major Rubén Aparicio.
On Saturday 3 October, a judge ordered the preventive detention of the four suspects. Mariaca, Zeballos and Irusta were sent for six months to different prisons across the country whilst the investigation proceeded. The Public Prosecutor's Office is investigating them for the offences of trafficking in controlled substances and organised crime. The Public Prosecutor's Office maintains that the accused would have been part of a structure that provided institutional protection to organisations linked to drug trafficking and Uruguayan citizen Sebastián Marset.
A chain of recognitions under scrutiny
The award from the Santa Cruz Council was not the only one given to Mariaca in recent dates. At the end of October 2025, the Parliamentary Brigade of Santa Cruz distinguished him for his professional trajectory, institutional leadership and contribution to the strengthening of justice. On that occasion, the recognition was delivered by then deputy Laura Rojas, who a month later entered the country on a chartered flight from the United States with 32 suitcases that, according to investigations by the Public Prosecutor's Office, allegedly contained controlled substances.
On 31 August, Mariaca had also received the Key to the City of Montero, as part of the municipal anniversary celebrations. Following his detention, Montero councillors spoke up on Friday to clarify that that distinction was delivered by the Mayor's Office and not the municipal legislature. They requested that Mayor Regys Medina remove the decoration.
"The Municipal Government of Montero has honoured a criminal… While other institutions have fallen into this error, that is what rectification is for and we must clean Montero's name and take away the key," stated councillor Rafael Hurtado in a session held on Friday.
For now, all these recognitions remain part of Mariaca's public record, whilst the criminal investigation must determine whether the accusations made by the Public Prosecutor's Office can be supported with evidence before the courts.
Source: El Deber