Former Bolivian minister del Castillo fugitive over links to drug trafficker Marset
Bolivia's police are searching for former minister Eduardo del Castillo, accused of receiving payments from Uruguayan drug trafficker Sebastián Marset in exchange for protection.
Former Bolivian minister flees as police raid his home in La Paz
Bolivia's police force is continuing its search for former Government minister and ex-presidential candidate Eduardo del Castillo, who remains "fugitive" following the emergence of a video attributed to alleged Uruguayan drug trafficker Sebastián Marset. According to infobae.com, in the recording Marset claims to have had a relationship with del Castillo and to have made payments to him in exchange for protection.
Government minister Marco Antonio Oviedo confirmed on Sunday from Santa Cruz that "del Castillo remains fugitive" and that police are continuing their active search. That same Sunday afternoon, agents raided the former official's home in La Paz and confiscated documentation and digital equipment, according to reports from local media.
Del Castillo served as Government minister during the administration of former president Luis Arce (2020–2025) and ran for the Presidency in last year's general elections as a candidate of the Movement towards Socialism (MAS), obtaining 3.17 per cent of the vote—sixth place among eight candidates—allowing the party to retain its legal status.
Case framed within investigation against former prosecutor Mariaca
The investigations into del Castillo form part of the judicial process opened against former Attorney General Roger Mariaca, detained on Wednesday and recently removed from office. The Government accuses him of having led a criminal organisation that allegedly protected "narco-terrorism" in the country.
Oviedo stressed that the decision was made to "dismantle" and "intervene" in that criminal structure headed by Mariaca through detentions carried out last week. According to the minister, the network had "several links with financial and property sectors" and police officers, which prompted an operation to "clean up" both the police force and the Public Prosecutor's Office.
The detentions took place days after the United States Government included Mariaca and two prosecutors—now imprisoned—on a list of high-ranking officials and former officials from three countries whose visas were revoked, accusing them of corruption and of "undermining democratically elected Governments".
Marset, the thread connecting the cases
The name of Sebastián Marset returned to the centre of Bolivian debate following the video in which he allegedly describes the former Attorney General as his "friend". The Government maintains that Mariaca had a history of protecting Marset's organisation before taking office as Attorney General in October 2024.
In July 2023, when Mariaca served as departmental prosecutor in Santa Cruz, Marset managed to escape from an operation designed to capture him in that region. He remained fugitive until last March, when a new operation—without the participation of the Prosecutor's Office—resulted in his extradition to the United States, where he is currently detained.
Source: Google News BO — Crime