Prosecutor Marcelo Inchausti said authorities arrested the former Santa Cruz court president on 11 November on suspicion of drug trafficking and criminal association in an ongoing investigation.
Bolivian authorities arrested Aldo Quezada, the former president of the Santa Cruz Departmental Court of Justice, at his home in the eastern city, prosecutor Marcelo Inchausti said. Inchausti said Quezada was suspected of drug trafficking and criminal association.
Quezada had announced his resignation from the court presidency and his constitutional chamber position on 22 October 2026, hours after his inclusion on a US visa restrictions list became public. The restrictions were linked to alleged drug-trafficking ties.
The investigation concerns suitcases brought from the United States on a charter flight on 29 November 2025. Prosecutors allege that Quezada knew the luggage contained marijuana and helped arrange travel authorization that facilitated former lawmaker Laura Rojas’s journey with her daughters.
The luggage was later taken to premises of the security company Ebose. In January 2026, police and prosecutors found 79.65 kilograms of marijuana there, alongside electronic cigarettes and equipment investigators said could be used to process the substance.
In testimony obtained by El Deber, Quezada acknowledged helping obtain the authorization but said Rómer Saucedo, the former president of the Supreme Court of Justice, had instructed him to do so. Quezada also alleged that Saucedo told him the suitcases belonged to Saucedo and contained marijuana.
Prosecutor Rolando Salvatierra confirmed that Quezada admitted helping with the permits. Salvatierra said the account needed to be checked against other evidence and did not say what weight it would carry in a formal accusation.
Quezada had testified as a witness on 10 November 2026, before his arrest the following day. Prosecutors later took a statement from him as a suspect.
The proposed banking amendments would simplify the procedure for foreign banks entering Georgia’s market. Shota Berekashvili, who presented the bill, said the amendments aim to increase competition.
Quezada is among several senior Bolivian judicial officials arrested since September over suspected cartel links. Former Attorney General Roger Mariaca was arrested on 30 September on suspicion of money laundering and drug trafficking.
Al Jazeera reported that the arrests were part of a US-backed crackdown on suspected cartel activity. Bolivia’s President Rodrigo Paz has sought closer ties with the United States and joined the US-backed Shield of the Americas security alliance.
Salvatierra said prosecutors planned to present a formal accusation against Quezada on 12 November. Prosecutors were evaluating what measures to request, and a judge was expected to determine Quezada’s legal situation.
1 min
Lawmakers passed an amendment in its third reading to protect state assistance during paid maternity and parental leave. JAMnews reports that a government decree caps the assistance at 2,000 lari (about $900).
1 min
Crews continued searching on 12 November after firefighters pulled a survivor from the rubble the previous evening. Mayor Zohran Mamdani raised the death toll from 2.
3 min
