Potosí prosecutor imprisoned for attempting to favour drug trafficker with 542 kg of drugs
A magistrate ordered the preventive detention of the Public Ministry representative in Tupiza, accused of protecting a man intercepted with half a million grams of cannabis.
Potosí prosecutor imprisoned for attempting to favour drug trafficker with 542 kg of drugs
A criminal justice magistrate in the capital ordered the imprisonment of the Public Ministry representative assigned to Tupiza, who allegedly attempted to protect a man intercepted with half a million grams of cannabis. Américo Calderón, head of the Fourth Criminal Court, ordered the transfer of Ismael A.A.D. to Cantumarca prison, where he will remain in custody for a period of two months whilst investigations are conducted.
The operation that triggered the scandal was carried out on 3 and 4 July in Villazón, a border area of Potosí department. Felcn agents caught Silvio Mendoza Coria driving a motorcycle in which he was transporting 20 packages of vegetable matter. The weighing yielded 542 kilogrammes of marijuana, a quantity that constitutes a serious crime under the international agreements signed by the Bolivian state, according to information published by El Deber.
Following the arrest, the case was referred to the public prosecutor's office in the municipality of Tupiza. The next day, the same official who is now imprisoned transferred the accused to a bail hearing. At that hearing, despite the magnitude of the seized shipment, he allegedly requested less severe sanctions than preventive detention, which set off alarms within the upper echelons of the prosecution body.
Róger Mariaca, the highest authority of the General Prosecution Office, immediately took action on the matter. He ordered the specialised drug trafficking unit and the anti-corruption department to open a case against his subordinate. "We will not tolerate any act of corruption from the General Prosecution Office of the State," the head of the organisation stated.
In addition to the criminal proceedings, the Transparency Unit is already processing the administrative file that could lead to the definitive dismissal of the accused. He was a career civil servant assigned to the Potosí Departmental Prosecution Office, a circumstance that raises concerns about possible complicity within the regional structure.
During the hearing that determined his legal status, the procedural risks of evasion and obstruction of evidence were corroborated, arguments that substantiated the decision to keep him in custody. The investigation remains active and the emergence of new persons involved cannot be ruled out.
Source: El Deber