Bolivia's Attorney General Roger Mariaca Removed from Office and Imprisoned for Drug-Trafficking Links
Bolivia's Legislative Assembly removed Attorney General Roger Mariaca, who was ordered into pre-trial detention for six months on charges of money laundering and drug trafficking.
Bolivian Assembly Removes and Imprisons Attorney General over Organised Crime Links
Bolivia's Legislative Assembly removed Attorney General Roger Mariaca on Saturday, while a judge ordered his placement in pre-trial detention for six months, according to mcall.com. The decision comes six days after the United States revoked his visa over alleged links to organised crime.
Judge Juan Carlos Montalbán determined, following a virtual hearing lasting more than 15 hours, that Mariaca would serve pre-trial detention in a prison in the southern part of the country whilst being investigated for money laundering, drug trafficking and organised crime. Shortly before the judicial ruling, parliament formally approved the removal of the attorney general and elected an interim replacement.
Two other prosecutors and a police officer linked to Mariaca were also removed from office and will be prosecuted on the same charges. All four will conduct their defence from prison, according to Judge Montalbán's 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 in March. Marset lived and operated in eastern Bolivia whilst being sought in several countries across the continent.
"We have broken up a criminal structure that was led by Mariaca," Government Minister Marco Antonio Oviedo declared following the attorney general's detention.
Mariaca also headed an investigation against Fernando Cerimedo, a former adviser to Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz. Argentine national Cerimedo is in prison facing an accusation of attempted femicide against an ex-girlfriend, a case that generated international repercussions owing to Cerimedo's links with governments of the new Latin American right.
Mariaca's detention has reopened debate over corruption in the Bolivian judicial system and generated expressions of support for President Paz from the Shield of the Americas, an alliance of right-wing governments led by US President Donald Trump against organised crime.
The case comes at a moment of political tension for Paz, who faces growing social discontent stemming from the elimination of diesel subsidies, a measure that drove up food prices and reduced the population's purchasing power. The government has also accumulated wear from the Cerimedo scandal and other cases that have damaged the standing of the president.
Source: Google News BO — Crime