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New arrest in Bolivia for trafficking in war arsenal

La Paz, Sep 27 (Prensa Latina) A new person involved appears today in Bolivia on the list of those arrested for importing more than 160 war-caliber weapons seized at the Viru Viru International Airport in Santa Cruz.

This is the regional director of Bolivian Air Navigation and Airports (Naabol), identified by the authorities with the initials R.C.

The prosecutor César Porras assured “He has been taken as a witness and (the investigation) has been expanded and he has been arrested.”

He added that in the precautionary hearing they will prove that R.C. has had participation, “the indications are clear, he says no, but we have seen with the commission (of prosecutors) that there is indeed participation.”

The now investigated man appeared to testify as a witness this Thursday, however, the commission of the Public Ministry found alleged evidence, so that night they determined his arrest and sent him to police cells awaiting his hearing on precautionary measures.

According to several media outlets in Santa Cruz, the new arrested man had tried to mediate so that the cargo would go unnoticed.

On September 21, police intelligence identified that in the parcel sector of the international airport in Santa Cruz there were 41 boxes with high-caliber weapons.

Two former uniformed officers are already indicted in this file, one from the Police and another from the Armed Forces.

According to the Minister of Government, Eduardo del Castillo, the arsenal seized in Viru Viru includes more than 160 war-caliber weapons from Turkiye and with an unknown destination.

The authority said this arsenal could be destined for illicit purposes or for a social upheaval.

“It will not be used by the Armed Forces or the police forces, because none of these institutions had purchased this weapon; therefore, it would surely be destined for a social upheaval or otherwise for illicit purposes,” he said.

According to the initial investigations, this weaponry comes from Turkiye and passed through Colombia before arriving in Bolivia.

Del Castillo added that “the fiscal requirements are being carried out in the department of Santa Cruz, for the searches against those people who were going to be the final recipients of this weaponry.”

The authority did not give more details while awaiting the results of the investigations to establish the final destination of the weaponry, which according to the DTV network are, above all, AK-47 rifles.

ef/rgh/jpm

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