Bolivian President Luis Arce and Evo Morales in November. Photo by AFP
The Bolivian government reported on Wednesday the dismantling of cocaine factories in the Chapare region after former President Evo Morales ’complaint about the alleged cover-up of drug traffickers, which caused unrest in the government and a crossroads of accusations against the anti-narcotics police.
“This operation is due to a complaint by former President Morales.‘, the Deputy Minister of Social Defense and Controlled Substances, Jaime Mamani, told the press.
Police intervention in Chapare, in the heart of Bolivia and the former president’s stronghold, dismantled four cocaine laboratories with capacity. to produce 200 kilos per week.
On Monday, Morales showed some audio to the press where he allegedly was Police are heard to be in an anti-drug operation and they received a call to abandon the operation. This is the first time the former president has filed a public complaint against the police amid controversy over the change of Government Ministry.
Former President Evo Morales on a march in La Paz. Photo by AFP
to the ruling party there were internal disputes and the target is the Minister of Government, Eduardo Del Castillo, who is in charge of the Anti-Drug Force. Sectors related to Morales demanded that the minister be replaced.
The complaint
Del Castillo did not specify the complaints.
On Wednesday, the former president returned to the fight and wrote on his Twitter account: “We have received complaints from junior police personnel who warning of the spy plan and surveillance to plant evidence against us. We have no fear. ”
Opposition representative Erwin Bazán stated that these accusations reveal a “internal struggle for power”.
Meanwhile, a crossroads of complaints erupted among the police. Former director of the Chapare Mobile Patrol Unit, Lieutenant Colonel Yerko Terán -who is in charge of the operation- accused the current head of that unit of giving the order to renounce police intervention.
drug power
Analysts agree that drug trafficking has long been in the police force and that shows the differences between Morales and his political heir, President Luis Arce.
Last month, the anti-drug chief in 2019, in the last Morales government, was arrested after allegations of profit laundering. The United States has offered a reward of up to five million dollars for information leading to his conviction for drug trafficking.
Bolivia is the third largest producer of coca in the world after Colombia and Peru. Coca leaf is the raw material for cocaine.
Source: AP
PB
Source: Clarin