The region's most wanted drug trafficker, Sebastian Marset makes a mockery of Bolivia
In a new interview aired on Sunday (November 26th) in the Uruguayan media, drug lord Sebastian Marset continues to ridicule the Bolivian authorities for the failure of their operation to capture him last July.
Screenshot from a video released on August 2, 2023 showing Uruguayan drug trafficker Sebastian Marset. AFP - HANDOUT
By: Camille Bouju Follow
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From our correspondent in La Paz,
This story tends to become a bad joke that repeats itself. Sebastian Marset, a 32-year-old Uruguayan who has been evading justice for years, appeared on Sunday in a clandestinely recorded interview to talk about his escape from Bolivia.
The criminal is known as the "man of a thousand faces," due to his ability to obtain false identities. He has become one of the most wanted men by Interpol and Europol and is the subject of an international arrest warrant for drug trafficking, criminal association and money laundering. He is involved in transporting cocaine to the northern hemisphere and is suspected of being behind the assassination of Paraguayan prosecutor Marcelo Pecci, perpetrated in Colombia in May 2022.
First arrested in 2013 in Uruguay, Marset is serving a sentence until 2018. Date on which he leaves his country and resumes his criminal activities in the region. In 2021, he left the Latin continent and tried to reach Turkey, but was detained in Dubai, because he was travelling with a false Paraguayan passport. From the Emirati prison, he took care of the Uruguayan passport and put an end to his captivity.
At the end of July 2023, he was located in Santa Cruz, in eastern Bolivia, and the government launched a vast police operation to try to capture him. But the criminal managed to escape the raid by the security forces with his family and, from then on, he ridiculed the Bolivian authorities. This is partly because he claims to have been warned, probably by the authorities themselves, to flee.
An escape made possible by corruption?
On Sunday, the drug trafficker, who is still at large, revealed details of his escape from Bolivia in an exclusive interview with Uruguayan television, and he again claimed that he had been helped to escape from Santa Cruz. "They informed me (of the operation). I packed two suitcases with my clothes, the children's clothes, and left.
»This version was denied by the government minister, Eduardo del Castillo. For him, "everything is a lie," and by speaking badly of Bolivia, Marset "confirms that the police are on the right track in their investigations to try to dismantle its criminal organization."
This is not the first time Marset has sent messages through the press. He had done so this summer, in August, when he fled. In this new interview, the trafficker laughs at corruption in Bolivia and says that "to stop drug trafficking, we must first put an end to the corruption of the police and politicians. And there are many of them.
»In particular, he returned to a large sum, more than $400,000, that he allegedly left in one of his properties in Santa Cruz when he fled. He recalled that the police had offered a $100,000 reward to anyone who would give clues about his whereabouts, but had said nothing about the remaining $300,000. In this regard, the minister said that the money was in the state offices.
Read alsoCoca, a leaf like any other?
Bolivia in turmoil
While it remains difficult to verify Marset's claims, with these statements and by claiming to have profited from corruption, he continues to discredit Bolivia. And this case is causing trouble in Bolivia. Because even if Minister Eduardo del Castillo denies all these accusations, the damage is done: doubt is sown.
In parliament, some members regret that a drug trafficker makes Bolivia "the laughing stock of the international press" and that Bolivians are thus "humiliated because of the links between the MAS (the ruling party) and drug trafficking".
But this statement not only raises questions about the failure of his arrest, it also raises questions about the possible inadequacies of international passport controls. In Paraguay, an investigation is still underway to find him. In the meantime, Sebastian Marset continues to be at large, on the run, while he has six criminal trials following him in Bolivia.
Read alsoVast police operation in Bolivia to capture a presumed perpetrator of the assassination of prosecutor Pecci
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