Uruguayan drug trafficker Sebastián Marset arrested in Santa Cruz and handed over to the DEA
Bolivian police arrested drug trafficker Sebastián Marset in the Las Palmas neighbourhood of Santa Cruz de la Sierra and handed him over to the United States DEA.
Marset captured in Santa Cruz after weeks of covert surveillance
Bolivian police detained Uruguayan drug trafficker Sebastián Marset in the early hours of Friday in the Las Palmas neighbourhood of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, according to infobae.com. The operation began at 2:30 a.m. and continued until after 9:00 a.m.
The arrest involved agents from the Special Force Against Drug Trafficking (FELCN) and the Tactical Unit for Police Operations (UTOP). Images broadcast by local media show heavily armed police officers emerging from a white-coloured house whilst guarding four handcuffed individuals, allegedly members of Marset's security team.
Following his detention, Marset was transferred to Viru Viru airport, where he was handed over to agents from the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
President Rodrigo Paz described the event as a "turning point" in the fight against organised crime. "It is a historic fact for the region and humanity; one of the largest drug traffickers on the continent has fallen under the rigour and capacities of the state," Paz declared at a press conference at the Government House.
Government Minister Marco Antonio Oviedo clarified that intelligence and surveillance operations were carried out over several weeks in "absolute discretion" by Bolivian agents. Oviedo ruled out DEA participation in the operational phase of the arrest. "There was no DEA participation; their participation was limited to transferring Marset to the United States because there is a judicial process and a red notice issued by Interpol; those have been the legal arguments for expelling Mister Marset," the minister stated.
Marset, a Uruguayan national, was among the most wanted drug traffickers in South America. He is attributed with leading an international cocaine trafficking and money-laundering network that operated between Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay and Europe.
In 2023, he managed to escape a police operation also carried out in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, where he was living under another identity. His whereabouts have been unknown since then. In May 2025, the DEA included him amongst its most wanted fugitives, and in February of this year he rose to third place on the agency's priority list.
Source: Google News BO — Crime