Bolivia's Attorney General Roger Mariaca removed from office and sent to prison over drug trafficking
Bolivia's Legislative Assembly dismissed Roger Mariaca after the United States revoked his visa for alleged links to organised crime. A judge ordered six months of preventive detention.
Bolivia's attorney general removed from office over alleged drug trafficking connections
Bolivia's Legislative Assembly dismissed Attorney General Roger Mariaca on Saturday, according to chicagotribune.com, six days after the United States revoked his visa for alleged ties to organised crime. A judge simultaneously ordered his remand in custody.
Judge Juan Carlos Montalbán, after a virtual hearing lasting more than 15 hours, ruled that Mariaca serve six months of preventive detention in a prison facility in the southern part of the country. Investigations against him include charges of money laundering, drug trafficking and criminal organisation. Parliament approved the removal of the official and elected an interim prosecutor.
Two other prosecutors and a police officer close to Mariaca were also removed from office and will be prosecuted on the same charges. All four will mount their defence from prison, according to the judicial ruling.
Mariaca, appointed in 2024 during the government of Luis Arce, is accused of having protected alleged Uruguayan drug trafficker Sebastián Marset, who was captured and handed over to the US DEA last March. Marset lived and operated in eastern Bolivia while being sought in several countries across the continent.
"We have dismantled a criminal structure that was led by Mariaca," said Government Minister Marco Antonio Oviedo following the prosecutor's detention.
Mariaca also headed a sensitive investigation against Fernando Cerimedo, a former adviser to Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz. Argentine national Cerimedo is in prison and faces an accusation of attempted feminicide against a former partner, a case that generated international repercussions due to his ties to Latin American far-right governments.
Mariaca's detention has reopened debate over corruption in Bolivia's judicial system. The case has also prompted demonstrations of support for President Paz from the Shield for the Americas, the alliance of right-wing governments led by United States President Donald Trump in the fight against organised crime.
The prosecutor's arrest comes at a time of growing pressure on Paz, who faces social discontent over a fall in purchasing power following the elimination of diesel subsidies, a measure that has made food more expensive. The government also bears the strain of scandals associated with the Cerimedo case.
Source: Google News BO — Crime