Bolivian authorities detained Attorney General Roger Mariaca two days after the U.S. revoked his visa over alleged ties to drug trafficking. Santa Cruz prosecutor Alberto Zeballos, also sanctioned by Washington, was arrested in the same operation. Police raided prosecutor offices in Sucre during a live broadcast in which officials called the intervention illegal and described Mariaca's removal as an "abduction." Mariaca denies the charges and says the U.S. action amounts to political interference.
Bolivia Detains Attorney General Roger Mariaca After U.S. Revokes Visa Over Alleged Drug Links
Bolivian Attorney General Roger Mariaca attends his swearing-in ceremony at the Vice-Presidency headquarters in La Paz, Bolivia on October 22, 2024. / Credit: AIZAR RALDES/AFP via Getty Images
Bolivian police detained Attorney General Roger Mariaca on Wednesday, two days after the United States revoked his visa, citing alleged links to drug trafficking, a government source told AFP.
"The arrest of Prosecutor Mariaca has been confirmed,"the anonymous source from the Ministry of Government said.
Local media reported that Santa Cruz prosecutor Alberto Zeballos, who was also sanctioned by Washington, was arrested in a related action. Both men were named among nearly 20 individuals from Bolivia, Colombia and Ecuador whom the U.S. State Department this week accused of corruption, links to drug trafficking, or conspiring against their governments.
Police carried out a raid on the Office of the Attorney General in Sucre on Wednesday. Footage broadcast live on the office's social media channels showed masked officers surrounding staff. Claudia Pardo, the office's head of communications, denounced the intervention as illegal while colleagues were filmed being confronted by hooded officers.
During the live broadcast a prosecutor's office official described what he called the "abduction" of Mariaca. Reuters reported local outlets saying Mariaca had been detained at Viru Viru International Airport in Santa Cruz.
The U.S. State Department alleged that Mariaca received "bribes to facilitate drug trafficking and help violent criminals evade justice." Mariaca denied the accusations in a statement to the press, calling the U.S. action an act of "interference" and "political pressure" tied to his investigations.
The United States announced it had revoked the visas of 12 Bolivian officials; nine other Bolivian nationals who did not already hold visas were rendered ineligible to obtain them.
Earlier this year, notorious narcotrafficker Sebastian Marset — who had evaded capture for years and was on the U.S. most-wanted list — was arrested in Bolivia and handed over to U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents at Santa Cruz airport. State television showed Marset being placed on a U.S. aircraft; he later appeared in federal court in Virginia.
Neither the Office of the Attorney General nor the Santa Cruz prosecutor's office immediately responded to AFP's requests for comment. The allegations cited by the U.S. remain unproven in court, and investigations and legal proceedings are ongoing.
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