President of Bolivia's Supreme Court flees into exile following arrest warrant for drug trafficking
Romer Saucedo, Bolivia's highest judicial authority, left the country following an arrest warrant for trafficking in controlled substances. The prosecution will request a red alert from Interpol for his search.
Bolivian supreme judge flees country amid narcotics investigation
Romer Saucedo, president of Bolivia's Supreme Court of Justice, announced on Wednesday that he had left the country with his family, hours before prosecutors revealed an arrest warrant against him for trafficking in controlled substances and criminal association, according to reporting by listindiario.com.
"I have left the country, I am in exile with my entire family," wrote Saucedo, 38, on social media platform X. He also denounced "attempts at persecution and intimidation" by the government of President Rodrigo Paz, and warned: "I know they are going to plant evidence to discredit me."
Interim Attorney General José Armando Urioste, appointed by Congress following the detention of former Attorney General Roger Mariaca, confirmed that the warrant was issued on Tuesday. Urioste did not detail Saucedo's specific involvement in the crimes under investigation, but stated that inquiries "will continue their course" in confidential fashion, with the collaboration of "protected witnesses". His office will also request a red notice to Interpol. "We need to activate these international alarms to prevent him from leaving or entering Bolivia," he stated.
Authorities do not know Saucedo's current whereabouts.
A judicial purge since October
The flight of the president of the highest court comes as part of a series of detentions that, since October, have affected senior figures in the Bolivian judicial system over alleged links to drug trafficking. Among those detained is Mariaca, arrested days after the United States cancelled his visa and those of several officials and businesspeople from Bolivia, Colombia, Peru and Ecuador. The Washington government has accused the former prosecutor of receiving bribes "to facilitate drug trafficking and help violent criminals evade justice".
Vice Minister of Interior Affairs Peter Maldonado directly linked Saucedo's flight to the Mariaca case. "Many of Mariaca's accomplices and criminals are escaping," he stated to the local press.
President Paz, who was in Spain to attend the Iberoamerican Summit, stated that Saucedo "is leaving the country because there is a series of accusations or investigations into our judicial system model".
Provisional replacement and deadline for appearance
On Wednesday afternoon, judges at the Supreme Court appointed senior judge Rosmery Ruiz as interim president owing to Saucedo's "temporary absence". If the magistrate does not appear before the court within the next six days, he could permanently lose his position.
Saucedo had reached the highest court through electoral means: he obtained over 700,000 votes for Santa Cruz in elections held in late 2024, and a month later was chosen by his peers to preside over the court. In Bolivia, senior judicial authorities are appointed through popular vote.
The Paz government, approaching its first year in power, maintains active engagement with Washington. In March it joined the Shield of the Americas, a regional alliance led by the Donald Trump administration to combat transnational organised crime.
Source: Google News BO — Crime