Ex-top drug cop in Bolivia charged with cocaine trafficking

By JOSHUA GOODMAN
Associated Press Writer

MIAMI (AP) — A former Bolivian antinarcotics chief has been charged in the U.S. with conspiring to provide top-level protection for cocaine shipments to the United States. The indictment unsealed Wednesday by a federal judge in New York also accuses Maximiliano Dávila-Perez of a related weapons offense. Bolivian authorities arrested Dávila-Perez last month on suspicion of money laundering as he was allegedly trying to flee to Argentina. Dávila-Perez served as antinarcotics chief in the final months of Evo Morales’ presidency, which ended abruptly in November 2019 amid street protests. U.S. prosecutors say Morales’ resignation created a power vacuum that fueled a rise in cocaine exports from Bolivia, which is the world’s third-largest producer of the drug.