Bolivia’s former anti-narcotics chief was extradited to the United States on Thursday to face federal drug-trafficking charges in a New York court.
Authorities said Maximiliano Dávila, who served as anti-narcotics chief in the final months of Evo Morales’ 2006-2019 administration, helped facilitate cocaine shipments by plane to the United States. According to the US Department of JusticeDávila used his position “to secure access to Bolivian airfields for the transportation of cocaine and to have members of Bolivian law enforcement under his command, including individuals armed with machine guns, provide protection for these drug charges”.
David — who authorities say also known as “Macho” — he boarded a private jet sent from the United States specifically for his extradition.
On February 2, 2022, the US State Department announced a reward of up to $5 millionn for information leading to Dávila’s conviction. He is accused of conspiring to provide first-level protection for cocaine shipments to the US, as well as weapons-related charges related to the possession of machine guns. According to the State Department, Dávila “allegedly used his position to safeguard aircraft used to transport cocaine to third countries, for further distribution in the United States.”
Juan Karita / AP
In late November, the Bolivian Supreme Court approved Dávila’s immediate extradition to the US. He has denied any wrongdoing.
Morales kicked the US Drug Enforcement Administration out of Bolivia in 2008, accusing it of plotting to topple his government at a time when rising commodity prices and a wave of leftist politics in all of South America were challenging longstanding American influence in the region. Meanwhile, the two countries have not exchanged ambassadors in more than 15 years.
The drug investigation that led to the charges against Dávila was launched by the DEA’s Special Operations Division in 2017, according to court records.
As part of the investigation, criminal informants working under the direction of the DEA recorded conversations in which a co-defendant of Dávila bragged about having access to an MD-11 military cargo plane to transport 60 tons of cocaine to the USA
The co-defendant, Percy Vasquez-Drew, said that “he and other traffickers had been able to operate with impunity in Bolivia because the DEA and the CIA had been kicked out” and the remaining anti-drug officials in the country were easily bribed. prosecutors said in court documents.
Vasquez-Drew was later arrested in Panama on a US warrant. In 2020, he pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiracy to smuggle more than 450 kilograms of narcotics into the U.S. Earlier this year, his sentence was reduced to 100 months in federal prison.
Bolivia is the world’s third largest producer of cocaine.
It is not clear how far Dávila de Morales, a former coca grower, is. But the two appeared together in an October 2019 photo celebrating Morales’ birthday next to several cakes decorated with coca leaves. Also in the picture was the former head of Bolivia’s national police.
Although the DEA has arrested numerous Bolivian drug traffickers over the years, including one of Dávila’s predecessors, Morales himself has never been charged with drug trafficking. He has vocally denounced the US-led war on drugs in Latin America and defended the traditional uses of coca, the raw material for cocaine.