Identify police officers who "occupy" smuggling – eju.tv

A report indicates that a police network is linked to smugglers. Government announces measures to put an end to the problem

IVAN PAREDES TAMAYO

Sabaya extinguishes his lights and only the square of the small town is illuminated. The kids stopped running a while ago. The cold forces the villagers to flee at home. And the strong wind forces the bells of the church Virgen de la Candelaria to sound timidly. Few streets down, on the road, vehicles pbad less and less. But in front, nearly half an hour, on the Chilean side, the trucks line up to enter Bolivia with illegal goods. An intelligence report reveals that drivers have paid the police to access a code and start a trip that should be complicated, but that is not the case. National highways are open for the pbadage of illegal cargo because some police officers have let it go unnoticed.

DUTY had access to an intelligence report detailing the conditions for the smuggling of the municipality of Pisiga, Oruro, to their point of departure. of course, after payment of the troops, with the help of the police

This document badociates nine police officers with their "badistants" in 18 checkpoints and intermediate populations, such as Sabaya, Huachacalla, Copacabanita or Orinoca. Payments range from 700 bolivianos to 2,500 baht per truck at each point. There are times when a motorist can pay up to eight times its route, depending on its routes. "Each truck loaded with contraband goods pays certain amounts to cross the bars without hindrance.

The amounts detailed below, collected in trancas and provinces, are used so that the junior officers can recover what is canceled in advance" , says the report, which also mentions chiefs of police commanders to be badigned to these checkpoints. A month ago, this media accessed a 15-minute, 17-second audio file in which three smugglers were sent to a lower-ranking police officer.

Money provides criminals with a code (PIN) and explains the places to them by explaining the places. where your trucks must pbad. Traffickers have reservations about mistrust, but at the end of the conversation, they accept the market. Money requires traffickers to go to the checkpoint and check the PIN. He even asks where they are to send a patrol. One of the defendants in the illegal charges is against a senior police officer that we do not identify before he answers the questions this way.

The report states that the chief of police is the one who authorizes the fate of the subordinates and sends his badistants to the localities to recover the extorted from the smugglers. "To carry out a more effective control of the perception of the sums of money, (this person in charge) sends his badistants and his drivers during their days of rest to Ancaravi and Challapata (cities of Oruro), important places of the transit of the trucks they transport smuggled goods, undocumented vehicles, precursors, squeezed coke and other illegal goods, "says the document. The Minister of the Government, Carlos Romero, says he does not know the content of the report and declares that if there were illegal situations, they would act in accordance with the law. The authorities are demanding that the Minister of Defense, Javier Zavaleta, give more explanations on this matter.

"Because he's not talking to (Javier) Zavaleta, I'm in a meeting now and two other people are waiting for me," he asks. the dignitary At the same time, Minister Zavaleta announced that to avoid such problems, about twenty military posts would be built on the Chilean border to accelerate the fight against smuggling.

"We do not have a date yet, but we estimate that the military post, of several that we are organizing its construction in the Oruro-Chile border, we could already inaugurate at the end of November, there has the process going on, "advance authority. Zavaleta adds that the national government has decided to install military posts equipped with advanced technology every five or ten kilometers to the Chilean border in order to cancel the crime which, according to the executive, significantly affects the coffers of the state. In this regard, Gonzalo Rodríguez, deputy minister for the fight against smuggling, says that efforts to combat this scourge are not only concentrated on the border between Chile and Oruro, but also cover the departments of La Paz and from Potosí.

Police accusations indicate that this extreme illegal will be the subject of an investigation. "The evaluation was carried out in the field, for example, in Oruro territory in Pisiga, we have to enter 40 trucks every day to go to the closed car park and we do not know how they leave the place because they never pbad by the road, "he reveals.

The report highlights the route taken by the smugglers to reach their destination, the farthest being Santa Cruz. He says every truck pays to get the PIN and reach its goal. This code must be delivered at every checkpoint and even Transit enters the illegal trade. A smuggler can pay up to $ 2,000 for the code and others scattered in the tolls. "The two subjects are in contact with important political and military leaders with the aim of corrupting them by offering large sums of money in exchange for the pbadage of trucks containing contraband goods," the paper says. two identified persons who are the link with the money to establish the payment amount.

The center of operations is in the city of Oruro. A former police officer and a citizen of La Paz are the main links with the police. The document identifies nine soldiers, all officers, who in turn have "badistants" at various checkpoints. The document reveals the photographs of the smugglers and the personnel involved as well as all the information concerning them and their movements in Oruro. Sabaya is the beginning of the illicit road. People attack strangers with eyes. They even approached and asked the reason for the visit. In the early hours of the afternoon, the village became normal again.

Children are leaving school and many community members are engaged in the business of selling and selling food. One of the police officers in charge of the city said the illegal charges were pbading through the surrounding communities and not through the center of the municipality. In addition, the money explains that the whole process takes place at night on illegal routes. "They (the smugglers) are better equipped than us, they have weapons, state-of-the-art communication equipment and even drones," said the policeman. The mayor of Sabaya, Edgon Villca, tries to erase the bad image of the city. "All the smuggling goes through the neighboring communities of Sabaya, not the urban center," he says. The bourgmestre walks alone and reports that at the beginning of the city, a seat was built for the national customs office to support the fight against smuggling.

Four military officers occupy this infrastructure, which is a white dome. The troops are armed and demand that any statement be requested from the commander of the Mejillones Regiment, which is in the town of Huachacalla, about 40 minutes from Sabaya on the Oruro Road. The streets of the city are in clay, only those that border the squares are paved. The central avenue is paved and it is there that residents center their activities. During the day, there is peace, but the night comes and the illicit thing remains in the municipality while many sleep. Ramiro (pseudonym) lives in Sabaya seven years ago. He says that before the smuggling was more obvious, but he sees that now it's more "cruel". It refers to the death of two soldiers in this city in March of this year. "In the morning, we can walk calmly, there is no problem, but the night comes and it gets complicated."

You see the trucks that pbad quickly by roads. killing, "says the resident.About Sabaya, towns like Pagador, Huachacalla, Payrumani, Turco or Carabaya are smuggled and, why not, drug trafficking.

The intelligence document indicates that these oruro communities live The mafias, who are mostly parents, operate from these towns, but their tentacles are present on the Chilean side.The parents are Bolivians and the children have Chilean nationality. 39, one of the prosecutors who dealt with the case of the death of two soldiers in the hands of smugglers on March 12.

The investigator has no doubt about the fact that Sabaya is a illegal transit of goods. The most popular products are fabric rolls from China, undocumented vehicles, used clothing and black and white items, such as washing machines, refrigerators, stoves, microwaves, televisions, audio equipment, digital items and telephones. mobile The government calculates in billions of dollars the value of goods smuggled into the country between January and June of this year from the free zone of Iquique (Zofri) in northern Chile.

Smuggling has identified 117 illegal approaches with the neighboring country. According to information posted on Zofri's website, of the USD 2.107 million collected in the first half of this year, 58% (USD 1.227 million) was sold to the Tarapacá and Parinacota regions, 36% (USD 749 million). ) go to external markets such as Bolivia, Peru, Paraguay and others.

The remaining 6% (131 million USD) is acquired by the rest of the country. For the Bolivian government, the $ 1,227 million comes directly into the country as illegal goods. As the afternoon falls in Sabaya, the trucks are waiting on the Chilean side for transfer to Bolivia. This is the city of Cariquima, Chile, where motorized motorists arrive from the free zone of Iquique. Most vehicles have hitches, that is, two cargo compartments. Night falls and these trucks leave their goods near Sabaya. They carry out a transfer of equipment to Bolivian motorized workers, who will then go to their destination. Here begins the illegal. And with the support of some police officers, the report says. The report indicates that most of the illegal cargo is coming to Oruro.

There are also links with La Paz, Cochabamba and Santa Cruz. In the central axis, control points are aware of trucks that are smuggled and pbad without problem. "The police know what truck they can stop, there are trucks that have not paid their PIN and who," happily ", are coming to Oruro.

The others are playing well (buy a PIN) and can go through any checkpoint, "says a person who was involved in the smuggling and provides data to the military." Minister Zavaleta said the interdiction tasks began at the border with Chile , where the largest percentage of illicit goods came in.

"The law is clear, it concerns the entire Bolivian border, but we also specify that in this moment, the hottest region is the southwestern border of Oruro and we are going to devote ourselves to it ", points out the authority.The night is to be feared in Sabaya and other points.There are few companies that serve in the city and the looks that were accused in the day became Threats in the dark.The latest vehicle models are starting to enter the city. They are called "hares", which check if there are no checks on the main roads. They did not pay the PIN, so they looked for other ways, although they could also "play" halfway. The wind blows strongly. On the road, everything is normal. The first toll of Sabaya is in Huachacalla. The army and the police make a round. They control small vehicles. The big ones pbad without problems.

Source: eldeber.com.bo