LA PAZ, Bolivia — Bolivia’s Supreme Court on Wednesday approved the extradition to the United States of a former head of the anti-narcotics brigade on charges of conspiring to smuggle cocaine into the US, a rare ruling against a top security official in the Andean country whose ties with Washington have been under pressure for decades.
The decision, which cannot be appealed, puts an end to the rapid downfall of Maximiliano Dávila-Perez, 59, Bolivia’s top drug cop in 2019. former left-wing president Evo MoralesBolivia’s first indigenous president who became somewhat of a global anti-imperialist icon after kicking out the US ambassador and the Drug Enforcement Administration in 2008.
A former police colonel, Dávila-Perez was indicted in New York in 2022 on federal charges of conspiracy to import cocaine into the U.S. and possession of machine guns. The indictment accuses Dávila-Perez of abusing his position to provide the highest level of protection to cargo planes transporting cocaine through third countries for distribution in the US.
The Justice and State Departments also offered a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to his conviction. The former official has denied the allegations.
Bolivia’s Supreme Court announced it has granted a formal U.S. request for Dávila-Perez’s extradition to face drug conspiracy charges. The US State Department and Justice Department have not publicly commented on the announcement.
“After reviewing the documentation and associated evidence, the decision has been made to immediately extradite Dávila,” said Marco Jaimes, the president of the Supreme Court.
In Bolivia, Dávila-Perez is facing money laundering charges. Bolivian authorities arrested him in 2022 for allegedly fleeing to Argentina and took him to prison in the capital La Paz, where he now resides.
Dávila-Perez led Bolivia’s anti-narcotics organization during Morales’ last nine months almost 14-year presidencywhich one ended abruptly in November 2019. The powerful former coca farmer resigned as street protests broke out following the announcement that he had won re-election for a unprecedented fourth term.
The interim government of Jeanine Áñezwhich took power after Morales’ ouster, fired Dávila-Perez.
But he returned to government in 2020 Chairman Luis ArceMorales’ former economy minister. Dávila-Perez served for a year as police commander in Cochabamba, Bolivia’s central region, a major hub of coca leaf production in the country.
Despite uneasy relations, no ambassadors for years and limited diplomatic activities, an extradition treaty between Bolivia and the US has been in force since 1995.
This is only the second time in Bolivian history that authorities have approved the extradition of a former military officer or government official to the US, said Saul Lara, an opposition lawmaker and former foreign minister.
The first was in 1995, when Colonel Faustino Rico Toro, a former interior minister close to brutal Bolivian dictator Luis Garcia Meza, was handed over to US authorities in Miami on charges of cocaine trafficking.
Lawyers for Dávila-Perez vowed to fight the extradition.
“This is a serious violation of human rights,” said lawyer Manolo Rojas, vowing to take the matter to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, a body of the Organization of American States, of which the US is a member. of the founders. member.
Bolivian court ruling comes as a fierce rivalry escalates between current President Arce and former President Morales, tearing apart the ruling Movement Toward Socialism party.
Although Morales insists he has nothing to do with Dávila-Perez, Arce’s supporters have tried to portray Wednesday’s ruling against his former minister as another blow to the ex-president’s political career. who wants to participate in the presidential elections next year despite a court ban.
“In the United States, the former anti-drug czar will certainly be able to reveal who his accomplices are. Maybe it’s Evo,” said Senator Virginia Velasco, referring to Morales without elaborating.