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Bolivia Arrests Ex-Interior Minister Arturo Murillo After U.S. Deportation

Prosecutors plan to send him to a maximum-security prison, a high-profile test of courts reshaped by recent elections.

FILE - Bolivia's Government Minister Arturo Murillo walks down a set of stairs at the government palace in La Paz, Bolivia, Jan. 28, 2020. (AP Photo/Juan Karita, File)

Overview

  • Murillo was taken into custody at Santa Cruz airport after U.S. authorities escorted him from Miami and he was flown on to La Paz for processing.
  • He faces charges including crimes against humanity and homicide tied to the 2019 crackdown, along with money laundering, abuse of authority, aggravated theft and influence‑peddling.
  • Bolivian courts previously convicted him in absentia in two cases, issuing sentences of more than five years for illegal tear gas importation and eight years for overpriced purchases from a Florida company.
  • He completed four years in a U.S. prison for a money-laundering case involving $532,000 in bribes before being transferred to ICE custody and deported after his final appeal was rejected on July 29.
  • Attorney General Roger Marica said he intends to transfer Murillo to the Chonchocoro maximum-security prison, as the case unfolds in a judiciary that recently granted key rulings favoring right‑wing figures.