Police deploy 180 officers in El Alto to halt LPG smuggling to Peru
An inter-institutional operation escorts LPG trucks from the Senkata plant to prevent fuel diversion to Peru, where it sells for more than four times its price.
Police operation in El Alto to contain gas diversion to Peru
An inter-institutional operation came into effect on Thursday in El Alto to control the distribution of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), according to El Deber.
One hundred and eighty uniformed police officers, together with officials from the National Hydrocarbons Agency and Bolivian State Oil Company (YPFB), escorted distribution trucks from the Senkata plant to various zones of the city. The operation is also being applied in La Paz.
The police departmental commander, Ricardo Terrazas, confirmed that the control mechanism would be permanent and would be extended to other regions affected by LPG shortages.
The measure responds directly to the diversion of cylinders to Peruvian territory, Terrazas explained. A cylinder costs 22.50 bolivianos in Bolivia, whilst in Peru it is sold for over 100 bolivianos, a difference that fuels the smugglers' business.
The Government denounced on Wednesday that the same networks that previously trafficked diesel and later petrol have shifted their activity to cooking gas, exacerbating the difficulties that Bolivian families face in accessing fuel.
Source: El Deber