Particle.news
Download on the App Store

Paraguay’s Supreme Court Clears Contraband Trial for Ex-Senator Edgardo Kueider in April 2026

Justices dismissed the defense appeal as procedurally inadmissible, leaving the case to proceed without a ruling on the merits.

Overview

  • The Supreme Court panel of María Carolina Llanes Ocampos, Manuel De Jesús Ramírez Candia and Luis María Benítez Riera held the appeal failed the objective appealability requirement and relied on a non-existent remedy.
  • The ruling leaves intact earlier decisions by Judge Humberto Otazú and a specialized criminal appeals chamber that had refused to dismiss the case.
  • The case originates from a December 4, 2024 stop at the Puente de la Amistad, where DNIT agents reported finding about US$211,000, 640,000 guaraníes and roughly 4 million Argentine pesos in a Chevrolet Trailblazer traveling from Foz do Iguaçu to Ciudad del Este.
  • The rejected filing by attorneys Marcelo Bogado and Carlos Arévalo sought review of the prosecutor’s accusation and definitive dismissal for Kueider and his former secretary, Iara Guinsel.
  • In a separate Argentine proceeding, the Federal Cassation Court backed Judge Sandra Arroyo Salgado’s illicit-enrichment probe into Kueider by rejecting defense complaints and affirming pretrial orders and asset freezes.