Image: from US Dept of State INL X @StateINL
By Open Chronicle with Agencies
SANTA CRUZ, Bolivia — In a dramatic conclusion to a multi-year international manhunt, Bolivian authorities have captured and immediately extradited Sebastián Marset, one of South America’s most prolific and elusive drug lords. The 34-year-old Uruguayan national, known as “The King of the South,” was handed over to U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents at Santa Cruz airport on Friday, marking a watershed moment in the region’s renewed security alliance with Washington.
Marset was apprehended during a high-stakes raid in an upscale neighborhood of Santa Cruz, a city that had long served as his base of operations. The mission involved hundreds of police officers and occurred just days after Bolivia’s new centrist administration, led by President Rodrigo Paz, formally joined a U.S.-backed military coalition aimed at dismantling transnational cartels.
For years, Marset had taunted law enforcement while living a life of flamboyant luxury. A professional soccer enthusiast, he famously laundered millions in drug proceeds by purchasing and sponsoring lower-level soccer teams across Latin America and Europe. In a move that became a symbol of his audacity, he frequently assigned himself the number 10 jersey and placed himself in starting lineups.
U.S. federal prosecutors allege Marset headed a sophisticated criminal network responsible for smuggling more than 16 tons of cocaine into Europe. His shipments were often stashed in commercial exports of cookies and soybeans, bearing his signature “King of the South” stamp. He faced a $2 million bounty from the U.S. State Department for his role in what officials called the largest organized crime investigation in Paraguayan history.
The arrest is a major political victory for President Paz, who ended nearly two decades of socialist rule in Bolivia last November. Since taking office, Paz has moved aggressively to restore diplomatic ties with the United States and has invited the DEA back into the country for the first time since 2008.
“The arrest and deportation were carried out pursuant to a court order issued by the U.S. justice system,” stated Senior Minister Marco Antonio Oviedo. “The Shield of the Americas is making our region safer.”
Marset is the second major narco-boss to fall in less than a month, following the death of Mexico’s Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera in February. As Marset begins his journey to face money laundering and trafficking charges in a U.S. court, his capture sends a clear signal that the once-porous borders of the Southern Cone are tightening under a new era of intercontinental cooperation.