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Paraguayan President Mario Abdo Benítez dismissed his until today Minister of the Interior, Arnaldo Giuzzio, for his alleged links with the Brazilian drug trafficker Marcus Vinicius Espíndola Marqués de Padua, arrested a week ago. Giuzzio was replaced by the adviser to the Presidency on Strategic Affairs, Federico González.
Removing Paraguayan Interior Minister Arnaldo Giuzzio from his post is based on President Mario Abdo’s “deep conviction” of “safeguarding the legitimacy” of that portfolio, confirmed the chief of staff, Hernán Huttemann.
Giuzzo’s dismissal was announced a few hours after the official admitted on February 22 that he had contacts with Brazilian drug trafficker Marcus Vinicius Espíndola Marqués de Padua, who was arrested on February 17 in Foz de Iguazú, as part of the international Turf operation. which had the support of the United States Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and Europol.
Immediately, the president appointed Federico González as the new head of the Interior, who has been serving as advisor to the Presidency on Strategic Affairs.
After his appointment, González indicated that he received instructions from the president to continue in the fight against drug trafficking and related crimes. He added that he will work with the Police to have a greater presence of his agents on the streets and in permanent coordination with the military forces.
González is expected to officially assume his new position on Wednesday, February 23, at the Government Palace.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Justice, Cecilia Pérez, becomes the new adviser on Security Affairs of the Paraguayan Executive.
After knowing his appointment, Pérez indicated that he has instructions to prevent the infiltration of organized crime in State agencies.
What would have been the links of the dismissed minister with the alleged drug trafficker?
Arnaldo Giuzzio explained that in 2021 he received a visit from Marcos Vinicius Espíndola in a unit of the National Police, called the Specialized Group, but that he presented himself as a “representative of the Black Eagle company”, dedicated to vehicle armoring.
The now former minister assured that the man “exhibited tactical equipment offered by his company”, after which he sent the Ministry “a proposal on armor”.
“I have known this man since last year, he offered us ballistic materials, vests, armored vehicles as well (…) He had even presented an exhibition of his vests, it was special. We invited other referents from Senad, Police, we did a check of the company in Paraguay, everything seemed to be normal”, he said. Giuzzio.
The Minister of the Interior, Arnaldo Giuzzio, cannot continue in office for a second longer, Giuzzio took office and did not deny the complaint against him and it was confirmed that he met with “the biggest narco” wanted by Brazil and even used Marcus’s vehicle Vinicius Espíndola to vacation. pic.twitter.com/cLZBfpzjgw
– Alfredo Guachiré (@GuachireM) February 22, 2022
The official maintained that when he carried out the background check on Vinicius Espíndola, he was “clean”.
In addition, Giuzzio explained that in December 2021 he rented a vehicle at the Ombu company, another of Vinicius Espíndola’s properties, after a mechanical failure suffered by his car.
He insisted that there were no further conversations with the accused drug trafficker and that if he had become a supplier of the State, he would have deepened the evaluation of his activities. According to Giuzzio, the contacts took place before learning that the subject belonged to a “criminal organization.”
However, the local press reported that the aforementioned vehicle would have been transferred to the then head of the Interior portfolio due to his friendship with the detainee.
Who is Vinicius Espíndola?
Marcus Vinicius Espíndola Marqués de Padua was one of the most wanted men in Brazil for money laundering, drug trafficking and asset trafficking, according to the minister of the National Anti-Drug Secretariat, Zully Rolón, at a press conference on February 18. .
Investigators point out that most of their clients from their companies would have links to organized crime and that they would have supplied armored vehicles with double bottoms to criminal structures.
The way in which Espíndola allegedly operated to traffic drugs to Europe would be through the Italian mafia, according to the Paraguayan press.
With EFE and local media