Page Seven Digital
In Orinoca, Oruro, a group of smugglers and residents stoned official cars and prevented the seizure of illegal merchandise, to the personnel who carried out interdiction operations to fight against smuggling.
The Vice Ministry for the Fight Against Smuggling reported that smugglers now use a new “modes operandi”, that of alerting that there is a wounded person in order to anger the local residents, so that they come out to defend them.
“This criminal organization incited the population to generate violence, where they stated that there would be an injured person, to anger the population, in this situation the criminals proceeded to stone official vehicles of the Customs and the Bolivian Police, causing material damage to the vehicles, before the facts the uniformed men withdrew to avoid deaths”, reported the Vice Minister of Fight Against Smuggling, Daniel Vargas.
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The authority pointed out that these events were committed on February 11, when interdiction operations were carried out to fight against smuggling in conjunction with the National Customs, and upon noticing the military and police presence, the smugglers proceeded to generate violent acts to avoid the confiscation of trucks with illegal merchandise.
Vargas lamented that community members from areas near the border with Chile support these illegal acts, which come to the detriment of the national economy. He clarified that during these events no deceased person was registered, as information circulated in some media.
In that town in Oruro, a group of armed smugglers and with the help of local residents prevented the seizure of trucks with illegal merchandise. According to Vice Minister Vargas, the smugglers are becoming more aggressive and receive the support of some residents who live in the sectors where the operations are carried out.
