On his Twitter account, Carrera stated that “in a clear violation of current regulations and the purpose that seized assets should have, Minister Heber uses an Audi that belonged to a criminal.”
He was referring to a high-end car, Audi brand, which was seized from “El Betito” Suárez in 2021, when he was charged with two years and four months in prison for the crime of illicit drug trafficking, in the form of commercialization.
The Frente Amplio legislator stressed that the seized and forfeited assets “should not be used for private purposes, much less as a means of transportation for the ministers of State.”
“These must go to auction and the proceeds must be used for the execution of public policies for the benefit of the entire society,” Carrera stressed.
Transparency
The parliamentarian said that it is a “terrifying public signal that is part of the drug culture.”
He remarked that “you do not save by using a drug dealer’s car, but by diverting the product of its value to the destination established by the Law for the strengthening of the system for the prevention and control of money laundering and financing of terrorism.
Law 18,494 of 2009 allows the early auction of assets, an agreement between the Judiciary, the Ministry of the Interior and the National Drug Board (JND). When carried out in advance of the judicial resolution, the deterioration of the assets is avoided, thus preserving their value.
Likewise, it provides that the seizures will be retained for official use in the JND programs, prevention, treatment, rehabilitation and social integration of people who have drug addiction problems.
“We demand transparency from the government by making public the minutes of the National Drug Board, and in particular, that it fulfill its duty to report the destination of all seized assets,” he requested,
Both Carrera, as well as the senators from the Front, Mario Bergara and Liliam Kechichian made a request for access to public information to have more information about the event.
