Bolivian authorities confirmed that five local soldiers were burned alive in a vehicle by a criminal organization that operates on the border between the Andean country and Argentina. The brutal crime set off alarms in the region.
They reported that Army second lieutenants Yamil Argani and José María Romero, and sergeants Braulio Pacaje, Vladimir Pacasi and Ruddy Medoza were murdered near Villamontes, in southern Bolivia and 90 kilometers from Argentina.
They explained that they were fulfilling the mission assigned to the Armed Forces to control smuggling and drug trafficking. In 2023, 16 murders of troops were recorded while carrying out the same task.
According to police sources, The uniformed officers were driving the vehicle and were leading a chase. The vehicle involved was carrying illegal chemicals.
During the operation, the military truck was pushed off the road and overturned. After the impact suffered, his attackers They took their weapons, poured fuel on them and set them on fire..
Then they escaped but they left the gas cans. Hours later, it was learned that one of the suspects confirmed the crime in one of the audios that went viral on social networks and reached the police authorities. “These thugs make people cry so much, they are burning like the dogs they are”was heard in one of the recordings, which were played by the media.
At first, it was believed that the fire had been caused by a traffic accident. However, the Vice Minister of Fight against Smuggling, Daniel Vargas, He ruled out this hypothesis and denounced that what happened was a crime. Vargas reported the mobilization of military intelligence groups to find those responsible for “this atrocity.”
Military crime in Bolivia: what is the drug trafficking situation like?
According to the opposition, Bolivia has similar economic, social and institutional vulnerabilities to Ecuador. And they stressed that the government of Luis Arce is not taking the necessary measures to prevent drug traffickers from taking over public institutionsparticularly from the police and prisons.
From the Bolivian government they proposed The situation is far from being similar to that of Ecuadorsince the big international bands are not present in the country, although some of their members may live there temporarily.
An estimate by the United States authorities described that Bolivia is the third largest producer of cocaine in the world., behind Colombia and Peru. In 2021, it placed just over 300 tons of the narcotic on the markets. Last year, the country recognized that it no longer only produces the “base paste” of the drug, but also the hydrochloride or refined cocaine. From this fact, concern grew that drug cartels have already landed in Bolivia.
A week ago, the government reported that it was carried out one of the largest seizures in history, seizing 8.7 tons of cocaine who were traveling to Chile to be transferred from there to the Netherlands.
Regarding the murder of the military, former president Evo Morales spoke out on social networks. He posted in X that “in a rule of law we cannot accept any contemplation and protection to criminal organizations not only linked to smuggling, but also to drug trafficking”.