Bolivia's Attorney General Róger Mariaca arrested over drug trafficking links
Róger Mariaca was arrested at Santa Cruz airport. The Bolivian government accuses him of protecting narco-terrorism networks from the Public Ministry.
Arrest of Bolivia's Attorney General at Santa Cruz airport
According to martinoticias.com, Bolivia's Attorney General Róger Mariaca was detained on Wednesday evening at Viru Viru International Airport, located 17 kilometres from Santa Cruz de la Sierra. Simultaneously, the police operation extended to La Paz and Sucre, where authorities raided the Public Ministry's premises.
Bolivia's Minister of Government, Marco Antonio Oviedo, confirmed to the media that Mariaca was charged with criminal organisation—classified under article 132 of the Penal Code—money laundering and illicit trafficking of controlled substances. According to government investigations, the institution under his administration operated as a criminal organisation dedicated to protecting narco-terrorism.
Visa revocation and international context
Mariaca's detention occurred just two days after the United States revoked visas for him and other high-ranking Bolivian officials over alleged drug trafficking links. Minister Oviedo publicly thanked United States agencies, which are actively cooperating in the fight against narco-terrorism in Bolivia.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote on X that the Trump Administration "stands firmly with President Rodrigo Paz and Bolivia's democratically elected government as it takes bold and decisive action to combat drug trafficking, systemic corruption and transnational organised crime".
President Rodrigo Paz did not comment immediately on the case, although days earlier, during his intervention at the United Nations General Assembly, he denounced that "narco-terrorism" financed the 2026 blockades with the aim of destabilising Bolivian democracy.
Analysis: a twenty-year network
Political analyst Eduardo Gamarra, a professor at Florida International University, noted that the Paz government was slow to act. "What Bolivia has done, specifically the Paz administration, is taken too long to develop a comprehensive strategy to fight corruption and drug trafficking," he stated.
Gamarra also emphasised the scale of the problem: "This is a network that spans the entire country; it is a true narco-industry". In analysing the charges, the specialist highlighted that Mariaca not only covered up crimes but maintained a permanent illicit conduct.
Regarding a possible extradition for Mariaca to be prosecuted by United States justice, Gamarra considered there was sufficient evidence: "I imagine that President Paz would agree to that request".
Video links Mariaca with Uruguayan drug trafficker
Hours after the arrest was confirmed, Bolivia's police released a video filmed during the capture of Uruguayan drug trafficker Sebastián Marset last March, in which the criminal leader refers to the now former Attorney General Mariaca as his "friend".
Oviedo clarified that the operation dismantled "a criminal organisation that protected, participated in and enriched itself through the trafficking of controlled substances". Gamarra warned that the detention represents only a first step against a structural problem: "This criminal structure had penetrated deeply into the Bolivian state. This goes far beyond the Chapare or Evo Morales; it is an extraordinary criminal network that was built over the last twenty years".
Source: Google News BO — Crime