Bolivian authorities detained Attorney General Roger Mariaca on Wednesday, shortly after the United States revoked his visa citing accusations of ties to drug trafficking operations. A source from Bolivia’s Ministry of Government confirmed the arrest to AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The move coincides with the detention of Alberto Zeballos, a prosecutor based in Santa Cruz who also faces sanctions from Washington. Both men were identified by the U.S. State Department earlier this week among nearly 20 individuals from Bolivia, Colombia, and Ecuador accused of corruption, drug trafficking links, or conspiracies against their respective governments.
Tensions escalated at the Attorney General’s offices in Sucre, where police conducted raids broadcast live on social media. Claudia Pardo, the office’s communications head, was seen surrounded by officers wearing hoods. “We denounce before the entire Bolivian population this intervention that is being carried out illegally,” Pardo stated during the broadcast.
According to Reuters, a prosecutor’s office official described Mariaca’s detention as an “abduction” during a live appearance. Local reports indicate he was taken into custody at Viru Viru International Airport in Santa Cruz. The Attorney General’s office and the Santa Cruz prosecutor’s office did not immediately return requests for comment.
On Monday, the U.S. State Department alleged that Mariaca accepted bribes to facilitate drug trafficking and assist violent criminals in avoiding justice. Mariaca rejected these claims, characterizing the visa revocation as an act of “interference” and “political pressure” designed to penalize his investigative work.
The visa actions affected 12 Bolivian officials and rendered nine other Bolivian nationals ineligible for future visas. This development follows the high-profile extradition earlier this year of Sebastian Marset, a notorious narco-trafficker and longtime U.S. fugitive, who was arrested in Bolivia and transferred to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration at Santa Cruz airport. Marset appeared in federal court in Virginia in March.
Anothernarco-trafficker link in South America. If Mariaca is clean, he should welcome a full investigation to clear his name.
Is there really evidence against him, or is this about Bolivia refusing to extradite someone else? Seems like a power play.
Wait, did she say they raided the office live on social media? That’s intense. Hope everyone involved stays safe during all this.
Mariaca calls it interference, but the bribery allegations are specific. I hope this isn’t just a political cleanup by the US.
This is getting messy. A sitting Attorney General arrested right after US sanctions? The optics are terrible for Bolivia’s sovereignty.