Argentine police officer missing in Villazón: 250 officers searching since 8 September
Maximiliano Óscar Martínez, 30, disappeared at the Bolivian-Argentine border. A binational operation involving 250 officers is searching for his whereabouts.
Binational operation on the border searches for missing Argentine police officer in Villazón
Maximiliano Óscar Martínez, 30, an officer with Argentina's Federal Police, has been missing since 8 September, when he crossed from La Quiaca into Villazón by bicycle. According to El Deber, approximately 250 officers from Argentine and Bolivian forces are participating in the search operation deployed on both sides of the border.
"All I ask is that my son appears alive," declared Clara Erazo, mother of the missing police officer. The woman participated in a march in La Quiaca alongside family members, friends and neighbours to demand that search efforts be intensified. "If anyone knows anything, please tell us. I am desperate and do not know what else to do," she added.
His father, Oscar Martínez, recounted the final hours before the disappearance: "He told us that day that he was going and coming back to Villazón to buy some things, he left with his bicycle." Shortly after, the young man's mobile phone lost signal. "We went to check the cameras where he went and then the phone turned off, we know nothing of his whereabouts," the father lamented.
Search warrants and security cameras in Villazón
Security cameras made it possible to establish that Martínez apparently crossed into Bolivian territory, but to date it has not been possible to determine precisely what route he took afterwards or where he currently is.
As part of the investigation, the Bolivian Police and the Public Ministry conducted search warrants at different points in Villazón, with the participation of Argentine investigators. The measures covered private residences and other spaces in the border city, without the missing person being located.
The authorities also deployed operations at lodgings, nightclubs and brothels, based on elements incorporated into the investigation indicating that Martínez had been in some of those places during the nights of 8 and 9 September. During the interventions, DVR devices and security camera records were collected, the contents of which will be analysed to reconstruct his final movements.
Interpol yellow alert and binational coordination
The Preparatory Criminal Investigation Office No. 11 of La Quiaca, headed by prosecutor Alberto Omar Mendívil, is directing the investigation. As a measure of international cooperation, the prosecutor's office requested and activated an Interpol yellow alert to broaden the possibilities of locating him.
The operation was extended to the surroundings of the Horacio Guzmán International Bridge, both margins of the border river and other sectors of the area. In Argentine territory, officers from the Police of the Province of Jujuy, the Argentine Federal Police and the National Gendarmerie are involved, as well as personnel from other jurisdictions. In Bolivia, the Bolivian Police and the Public Ministry of Villazón are participating. Gaucho groups on horseback also joined in to assist in searching difficult-to-access areas.
Physical description of Maximiliano Martínez
Martínez is approximately 1.67 metres tall, of normal build, olive-skinned complexion and has short black hair. At the time of his disappearance he was wearing black sports trousers and grey Adidas footwear.
Any information about his whereabouts can be reported to 911, to telephone numbers 388 6860239 and 388 6828607, or at any police station in Bolivia.
Source: El Deber