A police mega-operation carried out yesterday at the La Cruceña airport, located in the municipality of Cotoca, left 38 people apprehended, 66 small planes seized and 29 hangars sealed; In addition, drums of precursors for the manufacture of controlled substances, large-caliber firearms and satellite communication equipment were seized.
Three of the 38 arrested, identified as: Grover Soleto Guzmán, Ulises Ruiz Dayer and the Brazilian López Da Silva Junior, have open processes for drug trafficking.
The operation, which began at dawn on Sunday, was carried out in the first instance by the Special Group of Tactical Actions of the Bolivian Police together with representatives of the Public Ministry, who entered these properties. When they were discovered, those who were at the scene received the police with shots and they responded in the same way.
According to a first report provided by the Government Minister, Eduardo Del Castillo, the people who took care of these properties were divided into two groups, one tried to hide in the hangars and the other in the bushes that surround the place.
Once these 38 people were apprehended, there was a hangar by hangar requisition. They found chemical substances and it was only then that they called anti-drug agents and prosecutorssince the operation initially dispensed with this police force.
The minister explained that the operation is part of an anti-corruption investigation for the release of 13 detainees and the return of light aircraft, after an action by the Felcn that occurred in 2019, during the first week of the transitional government of Jeanine Áñez. Despite the operation, neither the Prosecutor’s Office nor the Anti-Drug Police presented evidence, so those arrested were released (see pages 4 and 5 of this edition).
Hangars 6, 9 and 12 are being investigated by the Anti-Corruption Unit of the Special Force to Fight Crime (Felcc), to clarify what happened at that time.
Among those arrested there are 36 men and two women, who are investigated for possession and importation of weapons, trafficking in controlled substances and criminal association in conspiracy, typified in article 53 of Law 1008.
About the operation
This is one of the operations with the highest figures in recent times. The 38 detainees were in the 29 raided hangars, where 66 small planes were also seized. The Government Minister said that some of these ships were without registration, others with cloned registration, such as the aircraft with the number CP-2490. “Small planes without seats were also found, so it is presumed that they were used to transport avigas (airplane gasoline) to other clandestine runways or also for the trafficking of controlled substances,” Del Castillo explained.
Among the eight confiscated firearms were found: an AK-47 rifle, an air rifle, three 9-millimeter Glock pistols, a 40-mm Glock pistol, a 6.35-mm Beretta pistol and a 32-mm Browning pistol. , in addition to cartridges and chargers.
10 Handy-type radios, 16 satellite phones, 15 satellite GPS and 23 cell phones were seized. In addition, five vehicles have been sealed and 81 cans of airplane gasoline have been confiscated, equivalent to 4,870 liters.
Minister Del Castillo added that This report is preliminary, so the final resolution will be announced when the other police units conclude the field work they are carrying out. With respect to those arrested, he pointed out that the judges will be the ones to determine their legal status in the coming days.
Yesterday, at the end of the afternoon, relatives and lawyers of some of those arrested approached the Felcn premises to find out about the legal situation of these people; In most cases, they assured that they had never previously committed any type of crime.
