HomeNewsBriefBolivia Seizes Largest Ever Shipment of Contraband Cigarettes
BRIEF

Bolivia Seizes Largest Ever Shipment of Contraband Cigarettes

BOLIVIA / 19 JUL 2012 BY MICHAEL KANE EN

Bolivia has made its largest ever seizure of illegal cigarettes, smuggled into the country from Paraguay. However, the confiscation is a small victory in the two countries' struggle to combat their roles as centers for the regional contraband trade.

Bolivia's military and Customs Department seized 1,046 crates of Paraguayan cigarettes, valued at $100,102, from a truck on the Santa Cruz-Villamontes highway, which is directly connected with the Paraguay border.

The driver of the truck and an accomplice were arrested and are under investigation. It is presumed they were intending to travel to Peru. Ardaya noted that because the contraband is worth more than $100,000, it is classed as a more serious crime, and that those responsible will be criminally prosecuted.

InSight Crime Analysis

The success of the two operations, dubbed “Cuevo XX” and “Los Puchos,” belie the larger problems both Paraguay and Bolivia face in terms of contraband. Neither country has succeeded in stemming the massive amounts of goods illegally flowing across their borders, due to ineptitude, corruption, and a lack of resources in their law enforcement agencies.

In October 2011, Chilean officials indicated that of the 140 illegal overland routes that cross its three borders, 106 were on the Bolivian border. Corruption within the border patrol in Bolivia has reached such a high level that Ardaya recently announced a plan for every official to carry pens with hidden micro-cameras and voice recorders that will remain on during working hours, recording their every move, in the hopes of discouraging collusion with smugglers. Bolivia's Economy Ministry estimates that the country loses between $300 million and $400 million due to smuggling each year.

Paraguay has grappled with similar issues. In September 2011, Paraguayan marines allegedly fired on Brazilian federal police as the latter were intercepting boats carrying smuggled cigarettes across the border. Just a month later, Brazil militarized the border in an aggressive action aimed at curbing the influx of smuggled goods, including guns, from Paraguay. If the allegations are true, they would indicate collusion with traffickers at the highest level of the Paraguayan security forces.

The two countries have also been unable to control their shared border. Despite Paraguay’s deployment of combat jets last April to patrol the airspace on the border and intercept illegal drug flights, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reported in November that smugglers still often used Bolivia-Paraguay air routes to move contraband.

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

ARGENTINA / 25 OCT 2022

Bolivia's cocaine trade is on the up. Originally a coca leaf cultivator, Bolivia has moved to cocaine production.

BOLIVIA / 2 SEP 2022

Peru coca prices are low. And that's leading to potential cocaine production in Bolivia.

ELITES AND CRIME / 20 OCT 2021

The killing of four young people in Paraguay’s border city of Pedro Juan Caballero has led back to an imprisoned…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela Coverage Continues to be Highlighted

3 MAR 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-director Jeremy McDermott was the featured guest on the Americas Quarterly podcast, where he provided an expert overview of the changing dynamics…

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela's Organized Crime Top 10 Attracts Attention

24 FEB 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published its ranking of Venezuela’s ten organized crime groups to accompany the launch of the Venezuela Organized Crime Observatory. Read…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime on El País Podcast

10 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-founder, Jeremy McDermott, was among experts featured in an El País podcast on the progress of Colombia’s nascent peace process.

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Interviewed by Associated Press

3 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime’s Co-director Jeremy McDermott was interviewed by the Associated Press on developments in Haiti as the country continues its prolonged collapse. McDermott’s words were republished around the world,…

THE ORGANIZATION

Escaping Barrio 18

27 JAN 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published an investigation charting the story of Desafío, a 28-year-old Barrio 18 gang member who is desperate to escape gang life. But there’s one problem: he’s…