Three years ago, a police operation dismantled a drug trafficking network operating in Mollendo, Islay province. Today, the Judiciary closed the case by sentencing a police officer and twelve civilians for facilitating the sale and distribution of narcotics in the area; In some cases, sentences exceeding 15 years in prison were imposed.
During the trial, the Prosecutor’s Office presented testimonies, documents, police reports and an acoustic expert report that confirmed the communications between gang members and the police to be able to carry out their illicit activities.
According to what was proven in the process, the leaders of the organization were Miguel Rivera Saire and his partner Roxana Mestas Mamani. In their home they stored, prepared and distributed basic cocaine paste, cocaine hydrochloride and marijuana.
The sale was made for both “window”, that is, through the windows of houses, as by “delivery”when consumers placed their orders by phone, operating between 2021 and 2023.
The investigation led by the Prosecutor’s Office and the Specialized Police against Organized Crime discovered that one of the members of the organization was the PNP non-commissioned officer, Humberto Escobedo Huancawho worked in the Mollendo police station and he took advantage of his position to alert traffickers about operations and police presence, allowing them to evade anti-drug operations.
After analyzing the participation of each of those involved, Miguel Rivera Saire was sentenced to 15 years and 10 months for promoting illicit drug trafficking, carrying firearms and being part of a criminal gang. His partner, Roxana Mestas Mamani, received 12 years in prison for the same crimes. Both were identified as the core of the organization that supplied drugs to different Mollendo micro-marketers.
The agent Humberto Escobedo Huanca was sentenced to 10 years in prison for personal concealment and, additionally, he was disqualified for a decade from performing functions in the National Police.
Others involved such as Félix Choquehuanca Arizabal, was sentenced to six years and one month for promoting drug trafficking; Wilfredo Saire Castroreceived the same penalty for illicit trafficking; while Wilmer Baquedano Valderrama was convicted by micromarketing and reception. Meanwhile, Rolando Chavez Lima He accumulated a total sentence of 15 years and 11 months when this sentence was added to previous ones for aggravated robbery and drug trafficking.
In cases of Bárbara Cárdenas Torres and Patricia Sofía Prado Bustamantethe sentences were suspended, but they were found guilty of micromarketing. Luisa Yabar Prado received a five-year sentence, which was converted into 257 days of community service.
Percy Aranibar Gallegos, Carlos Baquedano Valderrama and Domitila Sánchez They accepted their responsibility through early termination. All must pay civil reparations and fines imposed by the court.
