Operation Nueva Alianza 57 destroyed 222 hectares of marijuana plantations, 44 camps, 5,250 kilograms of processed drug and an estimated potential output of 666,000 kilograms during 12 days of incursions in Canindeyú and Caaguazú.
Ministerio Público
The Ministerio Público is Paraguay's public prosecutor's office. It leads criminal investigations, files charges, and often appears in stories about corruption, organized crime, and public court cases.
An audit by the Comptroller General’s Office presented to Congress on August 31 found payments exceeding G. 50 billion to more than 11,000 deceased retirees at the IPS, alongside a G. 624 billion discrepancy in inventory, while public doctors continue mobilizing for better wages and working conditions.
The National Anti-Drug Secretariat (Senad) seized 30 7.62 mm FAL rifles hidden beneath provisions in a pickup truck in Pedro Juan Caballero and detained two brothers suspected of preparing to send the weapons to Brazil, while Paraguay’s arms sector calls for a review of import procedures and authorizations.
Lawyer and activist María Esther Roa, a member of the Coordinadora de Abogados del Paraguay and Somos Anticorrupción Paraguay, accused the Public Prosecutor’s Office and ministers of Paraguay’s Supreme Court of failures and possible favoritism. She cited officials’ salaries and family ties—including María Verónica Lina Sienra Bertón, Analía Carrillo and relatives of Carolina Llanes—compared corrupt judges with members of the First Capital Command (PCC), and advocated structural reform with more resources and protection for investigators.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office is conducting a forensic examination at Copaco to investigate the alleged diversion of more than 1.1 billion guaraníes through fictitious payments to the Municipality of Asunción and transfers to personal accounts.
Five people have been formally charged over their alleged participation in using asphalt, machinery, trucks and municipal employees to pave private property. Criminal responsibility has not been established.
Alfredo Benítez remains director of Administrative Management at Paraguay’s postal service while awaiting a hearing on the conditional suspension of proceedings in which he is accused of falsifying notices in 19 enforcement lawsuits. The measure would include G. 100 million in restitution and avoid an oral trial without amounting to an acquittal.
Paraguay’s Public Prosecutor’s Office asked the courts to annul 144 demonstrably forged teaching diplomas and subsequently cancel the professional registrations linked to them. The investigation covers 525 suspicious documents and could hold beneficiaries, institutions and public officials involved accountable.
Paraguay’s attorney general and the Association of Prosecutors asked for preventive protection for Verónica Valdez and Jorge Arce after an exchange with Arnaldo Giuzzio during his trial. Giuzzio denies that he threatened them, describing the exchange as a forceful complaint about the handling of allegations involving former president Horacio Cartes.
A truck carrying 283 boxes of inputs without health registration, reportedly from Bolivia, was seized in Mariscal Estigarribia in Paraguay’s Chaco region. The driver was charged with smuggling, and authorities suspect the material could be used to counterfeit or market alleged injectable weight-loss medicines.
The Ministry of Health assigned 44 ambulances to Rally Paraguay, prompting criticism over the temporary concentration of resources and raising questions about emergency capacity, public-resource allocation and regional event planning.
An American investor denounced alleged judicial maneuvers in a commercial dispute over the registration of the drug Tirzepatida to the US embassy in Paraguay, as reported by his lawyer Daniel Alarcón to broadcaster El Observador Radio TV.
Paraguayan police remove an agent and investigate an alleged scheme for irregular issuance of identity cards to foreigners, mainly Brazilians, after blocking the delivery of documents to people with criminal records.
The Court of Appeals rejected the recusal request by presidential pre-candidate Arnoldo Wiens and maintained Judge Humberto Otazú in the case investigating alleged damages of G. 14,955 million to the State in the Metrobús project.
A judge dismissed a breach of trust complaint against former Ciudad del Este mayor Miguel Prieto in the asphalt plant bidding case, after the Public Prosecutor's Office found the municipality made no payments to the awarded company.
Paraguay Police seized cocaine in a parcel bound for Spain, marijuana in vegetables destined for a prison, and over 300 kg of premium marijuana in a truck at Puente de la Integración.
Paraguay's National Police arrested two Brazilian citizens suspected of belonging to the First Capital Command (PCC) criminal faction in Ciudad del Este. One was using a false identity and had an international arrest warrant for drug trafficking. They entered the country from Argentina clandestinely and were presumed to be planning to cross illegally into Argentina.
Former minister Arnoldo Wiens rejected judge Humberto Otazú to halt the criminal proceedings in the Metrobús case, in which he is accused of causing a loss of 15 billion guaranis to the state, while the Public Prosecutor's Office requested the dismissal of the case against his predecessor, Ramón Jiménez Gaona.
Senator Lilian Samaniego supports a bill to make mandatory vehicle technical inspection compulsory in all municipalities of Paraguay, aiming to decentralize the service and prevent accidents caused by vehicles in poor condition.
Paraguayan President Santiago Peña denied payment to foreign influencers in the country, highlighted the attraction of digital nomads and investments in infrastructure and security, but documents reveal the government allocated $1.5 million for campaigns with influencers until 2027, in addition to defending the Social Security Institute (IPS) and avoiding comment on Horacio Cartes' Senate candidacy.
An American tourist was detained by police in Coronel Bogado, Paraguay, after being reported by residents for photographing an exotic plant in front of a Public Prosecutor's Office assistant's house.
Former Senator Enrique Bacchetta alerted the Chamber of Deputies in 2020 about doubts regarding Hernán Rivas' law degree, whose trial for using a false document reveals certificates with serious spelling errors and testimony from a former university rector who claims to have signed it inside a car without ever seeing Rivas attend classes.
Paraguay's Public Ministry accused former minister Arnoldo Wiens of breach of trust and damage to the Metrobús project in Asunción, with estimated losses of Gs. 14.955 billion, and requested an oral trial, while also seeking to expedite an appeal in another corruption case involving officials.
Court unanimously acquits former judge Tania Irún of misconduct charges in the Alto Paraguai lands case, while in a separate proceeding former Petropar president Sergio Escobar Amarilla is accused of breach of trust in a contract that caused billions of guaranis in losses.