Santa Cruz, operations centre of organised crime: governor calls for 5,000 more police officers
Acting Governor Paola Aguirre warned that organised crime has chosen Santa Cruz as its operations base and demands urgent police reinforcements.
Aguirre alerts: criminal networks operate from Santa Cruz and infiltrate the State
The acting governor of Santa Cruz, Paola Aguirre, declared on Wednesday that organised crime has turned the department into its main operations centre in Bolivia. According to reduno.com.bo, her statements were made during an event for the assignment of new police officers.
"This is no longer common delinquency, this is organised crime and unfortunately I must say that organised crime has chosen Santa Cruz as its place of operations," Aguirre stated.
The official noted that the department's strategic location — its roads, its border, its airport and its economic activity — makes it an attractive destination for criminal networks. "Santa Cruz is the economic engine of Bolivia and that is precisely why organised crime wants it," she maintained.
Recent violent incidents as evidence
Aguirre linked a series of recent violent episodes to the same criminal logic, connected to trafficking routes, money, weapons, corruption and intimidation of the population. Among the cases mentioned was the shooting of two men in a home in Valle Sánchez, in the municipality of Warnes, and the discovery of a young man's body who was being sought by his family.
She also recalled the armed attack on a jewellery shop on Avenida Bush and the murder of four workers on a livestock property in San Matías. To these incidents was added an ambush in which Second Lieutenant Yerson Salazar died, who was investigating criminal organisations in the area.
Criminals within State institutions
The acting governor went further beyond street-level incidents and denounced that criminal organisations would have managed to infiltrate State institutions to obtain protection and evade judicial investigations.
"There are criminals within State institutions. A firm hand, yes, and with the law in hand," Aguirre declared, demanding direct action against corruption, contract killing, money laundering and those who cover up delinquents from within the state apparatus.
Police shortage: one officer per 600 residents
Aguirre specified that Santa Cruz, the most populous department in the country with nearly four million inhabitants, has just over 5,000 police officers. She pointed out that in La Paz the ratio is one police officer per 300 inhabitants, whilst in Santa Cruz that figure falls to one per 600.
Based on those figures, she demanded at least 5,000 additional police officers for the department. Whilst she acknowledged the police reinforcements announced by the authorities, she warned that they are insufficient to close the existing gap and demanded that the increase in officers be accompanied by adequate equipment, vehicles and infrastructure.
Source: Google News BO — Crime