Paraguay: a Brazilian of Lebanese origin wanted by the United States has been arrested at the Triple Frontier

Paraguayan authorities on Tuesday arrested Kassem Mohamad Hijazi, a Brazilian of Lebanese origin, accused of money laundering in the troubled area of ​​La Triple frontier, in a joint operation with the United States, where he will be extradited.

The head of the country’s National Anti-Drugs Secretariat, Zully Rolón, said that the merchant captured in Ciudad del Este is considered “a consolidated priority witness of high strategic value for the United States”.

“This is the culmination of a year of intelligence work we succeeded in arresting this person who is allegedly involved in money laundering. This is a capture for extradition purposes “Rolón pointed out.

Ciudad del Este is located 350 kilometers from Asunción on the border with Brazil and Argentina and It is considered a sensitive region for drugs, weapons, money laundering and the financing of terrorism.

Kassem Mohamad Hijazi and his brother were investigated in Paraguay in 2004 for tax evasion and illegal remittances of foreign currencyRolón said, but the cause had no effect.

As reported by the media Last hour, during these procedures, notebooks and accounting books for illegal use, which recorded data on business premises, amounts of money, identification codes and financial transactions.

According to investigators, Kassem operated in six houses located in Ciudad del Este, in the Triple Frontier, from where illicit transfers of money belonging to individuals and companies that hire their services have been carried out.

Your catch coincides with an in-country assessment of compliance with Financial Action Task Force (FATF) standards, created to fight against money laundering and terrorist financing.

As detailed in his Twitter account by prosecutor Marcelo Pecci, the arrest of Kassem Mohamad Hijazi is of great strategic value for Paraguay and the United States, since it would play a crucial role in providing the resources and infrastructure necessary to facilitate money laundering services generated by international organized criminal groups.

(With information from Reuters)

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