Bolivia arrests ex-judge Aldo Quezada in drug case

Bolivian authorities arrested former judge Aldo Quezada at his home in Santa Cruz on Wednesday on suspicion of drug trafficking and criminal association, prosecutor Marcelo Inchausti said.

Quezada resigned last month as chief justice of a Santa Cruz provincial court after the United States named him on a sanctions list for alleged links to drug trafficking. The United States also canceled his visa, along with those of officials in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, for the same reason.

Several senior officials in Bolivia's justice system have been arrested since September on suspicion of links to drug cartels, including former attorney general Roger Mariaca.

Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz is seeking closer ties with the United States and has signed Bolivia up to US President Donald Trump's “Shield of the Americas,” described as a loosely defined alliance to fight drug cartels.