PCC member arrested in Santa Cruz: wanted in Brazil for drug trafficking and arms smuggling
Bolivian police captured Brazilian Delemberg de Souza, a senior PCC member, in Santa Cruz de la Sierra on 3 November.
Senior PCC commander captured in Santa Cruz with pending sentence in Brazil
Bolivian police detained Brazilian citizen Delemberg de Souza, 33 years old, on 3 November at 18:00 in Santa Cruz de la Sierra. According to eldia.com.bo, authorities have identified him as an important member of the structure of the First Command of the Capital (PCC), a Brazilian-origin criminal organisation, wanted in his country for drug trafficking, arms smuggling and organised crime.
Government Minister Marco Antonio Oviedo reported that the operation was the result of intelligence work carried out in the Santa Cruz department in coordination with Brazil's Federal Police. De Souza had active arrest warrants in Brazil and a sentence of 10 years, six months and 16 days imprisonment, handed down by the Second Court of the municipality of Sapezal in the state of Mato Grosso.
Oviedo detailed further that the detainee was linked to two major cocaine seizures recorded in Brazil: in July 2023 he was captured with 871 kilograms of the substance and, in August of the same year, with another 450 kilograms, accumulating a total of 1.3 tonnes.
The general commander of Bolivian police, first general Adrián Álvarez Arismendi, explained that De Souza performed coordination functions for the transport of controlled substances from Bolivia to Brazil. His base of operations was located in the state of Mato Grosso, whilst in Bolivian territory he operated mainly in the border area of San Ignacio de Velasco. Authorities indicated that he would also have carried out money laundering activities from Santa Cruz de la Sierra.
The Brazilian's migration records indicate that his last entry to Bolivia took place on 18 March 2024, meaning his stay in the country was considered irregular.
Minister Oviedo stated that these actions form part of a strategy to dismantle criminal structures that use Bolivian territory as a platform for the transport and export of cocaine, with links also to acts of violence.
"Transnational organised crime threatens us and this is the institutional response," declared commander Álvarez Arismendi, who assured that intelligence work would continue to identify, locate and capture other members of these organisations.
Source: Google News BO — Crime