Former Bolivian minister Del Castillo, fugitive over drug-trafficking links
Bolivia's police force is searching for former minister Eduardo del Castillo, being investigated for alleged ties to Uruguayan drug trafficker Sebastián Marset.
Former Bolivian minister Del Castillo flees as police investigate alleged links to organised crime
Bolivia's police force continues its search for former Government minister and former presidential candidate Eduardo del Castillo, declared a "fugitive" following disclosure of a video in which alleged Uruguayan drug trafficker Sebastián Marset claims to have had a relationship with him and to have made payments to him in exchange for protection. Current Government minister Marco Antonio Oviedo announced this on Sunday, according to infobae.com.
"Del Castillo remains a fugitive," Oviedo told the media in Santa Cruz, a city in the eastern part of the country. Police raided Del Castillo's residence in La Paz on the same Sunday afternoon, where they confiscated documents and digital equipment, according to local media outlets.
Del Castillo served as Government minister during Luis Arce's administration (2020-2025) and stood as a presidential candidate for the Movement towards Socialism (MAS) in last year's general election. The lawyer finished in sixth place among eight candidates, with 3.17 per cent of the vote, a result that barely reached the minimum threshold for the MAS to retain its electoral registry.
Broader proceedings against a drug-trafficking protection network
Investigations against Del Castillo are part of a wider case relating to former Attorney General Roger Mariaca, who was detained on Wednesday and recently removed from office. The Government accuses him of having led a criminal organisation that protected "narco-terrorism" in the country.
Oviedo reiterated that the decision was made to "dismantle" and "intervene" in the said organisation, whose most visible figurehead was Mariaca, through several arrests carried out last week. According to the minister, the network also had "various links with financial and property sectors" and police officers, which motivated the decision to "clean up" both the police force and the Public Prosecution Service.
The arrests took place days after the United States Government included Mariaca and two prosecutors—currently imprisoned—on a list of officials and former officials from three countries to whom it revoked visas, accusing them of corruption and of "undermining democratically elected governments".
The link with Marset
The name of Sebastián Marset gained prominence again in Bolivia with Mariaca's detention. In a video attributed to the Uruguayan drug trafficker, he supposedly refers to Mariaca as his "friend".
The Government maintains that Mariaca, before assuming office as Attorney General in October 2024, already had a "history" of protecting Marset's organisation. In July 2023, when Mariaca was serving as regional prosecutor for Santa Cruz, Marset managed to escape a capture operation in that region. He remained a fugitive until last March, when an operation carried out without participation by the Public Prosecution Service led to his apprehension; he is currently detained in the United States.
Source: Google News BO — Crime