Bolivia attorney general arrested in drug case

Bolivian Attorney General Roger Mariaca was arrested in the eastern city of Santa Cruz on suspicion of money laundering and drug trafficking, the government said Thursday.

Interior Minister Marco Antonio Oviedo said police later caught four people trying to remove bundles of cash from Mariaca's house in an ambulance. A video released by the interior ministry showed police taking wads of cash from the vehicle's panels.

Oviedo accused the Attorney General's Office under Mariaca of becoming a criminal organisation that protected narcotrafficking. He said four prosecutors, six employees of the public prosecutor's office and the four people found in the ambulance were arrested.

The arrest came two days after the United States barred Mariaca and his family from entering the country. Washington claimed he had abused public office by taking bribes to facilitate narcotrafficking and help violent criminals evade justice.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio praised what he called Bolivia's actions against narcotrafficking, corruption and organised crime. Oviedo said Mariaca's arrest took place with US cooperation.

Mariaca's lawyer Romel Ipamo told local media that his client would cooperate with the investigation but asked that due process be guaranteed.

The Attorney General's Office said Luis Montano Morales, the next most senior public prosecutor, would replace Mariaca on an interim basis because of his “definitive absence.” Police also raided public prosecutor offices in Sucre, Santa Cruz and La Paz, according to police footage and local media images.