RUMORS OF CORRUPTION IN BOLIVIAN COUNTERNARCOTICS

C O N F I D E N T I A L LA PAZ 000464

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/21/2019
TAGS: SNAR PREL
SUBJECT: RUMORS OF CORRUPTION IN BOLIVIAN COUNTERNARCOTICS
POLICE

Classified By: EcoPol Counselor Brian Quigley for reasons 1.4 (b),(d)


1. (C) Summary: The Narcotics Affairs Section (NAS) has
received numerous reports from certain members of the
Bolivian National Counternarcotics Police (FELCN) regarding
alleged acts of corruption involving members of the GOB and
the FELCN. While the NAS cannot conduct investigations to
determine the legitimacy of these allegations, the
allegations themselves point to a significant level of
mistrust within the FELCN and between the FELCN and the Vice
Ministry of Social Defense headed by Felipe Caceres. End
Summary


2. (C) In February, Lt. Col. Cuevas (Strictly Protect),
then finishing up his term as head of FELCN's Rural Patrol
Unit (UMOPAR) in the Chapare region told NAS Police Advisor
that Vice Minister of Social Defense Felipe Caceres asked to
exchange three hundred kilos of cocaine HCl for three hundred
kilos of coca paste (Note: UMOPAR had previously seized more
than six hundred kilos of cocaine HCl in a Chapare checkpoint
that would have been available at the time of the alleged
encounter. End Note). In addition, Caceres offered to
provide Cuevas with $100,000 USD and "to be a friend for
life". Cuevas responded that he had just been assigned to
head the FELCN's jungle school and no longer had access to
the drugs. Cuevas also said Caceres inquired into the
well-being of the confidential informant (CI) that provided
the information that led to the arrest of the Teran sisters
and asked Cuevas if the CI was "still ok", one week later she
was found stabbed to death (Note: Elva and Juana Teran,
sisters of MAS Constitutional Assembly member Margarita
Teran, were arrested in September 2008 with 147 kilos of
cocaine. End Note). The head of the Vice Ministry of Social
Defense, Felipe Caceres, is the Bolivian "Drug Czar" and is
one of the longest serving Vice Ministers in the Morales
administration.


3. (C) In March, FELCN Deputy Commander Felix Molina
(Strictly Protect) told NAS officers that the head of FELCN's
Special Coca Control Group (GECC) Lt. Col. Stanley Tintaya
was involved in arranging the transportation of seized coca
to drug producers, instead of destroying it. He said that
"Tintaya is the dirt underneath Caceres' fingernails".
Molina said that FELCN Commander Oscar Nina was aware of this
but was not confident that Nina would address the allegations
as he is very close to Felipe Caceres. (Comment: NAS is
looking into discrepancies between how much seized coca
DIGCOIN reports having received from GECC for destruction and
how much GECC seized. DIGCOIN reports having 877,000 lbs. in
its warehouse, the same amount it reported at the end of
2008, in spite of GECC claiming to have seized 507,000 lbs to
date in 2009. End Comment) Molina said he requested the
reassignment of one person allegedly involved in the
corruption and was pushing to have Tintaya replaced.


4. (C) In December 2008, rumors of corruption among FELCN
officers in Santa Cruz's Viru Viru airport were widespread
and NAS felt they were credible enough to request that then
FELCN Commander Rene Sanabria rotate all officers at the
airport. It was alleged that Capt. Ona, head of FELCN's
airport unit and godson to Col. Sanabria, prevented FELCN
Canine units from inspecting the luggage of specific
international flights departing from Viru Viru. The
Lieutenant in charge of the Canine group at the time
submitted a formal complaint to his commanders which was
ignored at the higher levels of FELCN. Col. Guido Frias
(Strictly Protect),then head of the FELCN Canine unit, told
NAS officers that drug traffickers paid specific FELCN
officers between one-thousand to two-thousand dollars per
kilo to allow certain bags to pass through the airport
without inspection. Col. Frias claimed that Col. Sanabria
was involved in the operation and was trying to raise money
to "buy" the top position in the Bolivian National Police

(BNP) (Comment: Col. Frias maintained these allegations
following the promotion of Sanabria to the number three
position in the BNP claiming that then General Gemio would
step down and that Sanabria was making payments to select MAS
advisors to "buy" Gemio's position. Gemio was removed but
Gen. Escobar was given the top position, appropriate as
promotions are based on a point system and Gen. Escobar had
more points than Col. Sanabria. End Comment). The current
FELCN Commander in Santa Cruz, Col. Milton Sanchez, informed
NAS that all FELCN personnel at Viru Viru were switched out.
He also said that they had obtained photos of houses and cars
purchased by several of the alleged participants that could
not be afforded on a police salary.


5. (C) Allegations of corruption extend to CN prosecutors
and specifically to their handling of seized assets. NAS
received information that CN prosecutors in Santa Cruz, in
coordination with FELCN officers, have returned seized assets
to narcotraffickers in exchange for payment, underreported
amounts of money seized during operations, and even sold
seized livestock to make a profit.


6. (C) Comment: This cable does not include all rumors of
corruption that have reached NAS but those that post feels
are significant enough to report. Reported corruption also
exists on a smaller scale, the most recent allegations
involved UMOPAR police at Chapare checkpoints charging
drivers a "fee" to allow illegal coca to pass through. At
best the rumors and allegations indicate a significant lack
of trust among FELCN officers and the GOB, at worst they
indicate a serious corruption problem in Bolivia's CN
program. This environment precedes the departure of DEA but
will likely get worse as NAS is not able to investigate the
allegations and more junior FELCN officers could be enticed
into corruption. In most cases, FELCN police that are caught
engaging in corrupt activities are simply transferred out of
the FELCN, as in the UMOPAR case above, as there are no laws
which allow for the investigation of unexplained assets in
Bolivia. FELCN officers that are aware of the above incidents
are hesitant to bring the allegations to light as they do not
know how high up the corruption goes and are fearful of
retribution from those involved. NAS will push FELCN to
prosecute officers suspected of engaging in illicit
activities and continue to monitor how the GOB responds to
allegations of corruption in Bolivian CN units. End Comment.
URS