Former police officer Richar Cáceres Ojeda, 39, was shot and killed on the night of Friday, July 10, during a confrontation with police in Alberdi, Ñeembucú department. The incident occurred on a hill near Route PY19, where he and other members of his gang were hiding after robbing the Liz 2 Supermarket two days earlier.
In the shootout, Senior Sub-Officer Lidio Candia López, 48, of the Ñeembucú Investigations Department, was injured and admitted to the Rigoberto Caballero Police Hospital in Asunción. Following Cáceres's death, three other suspects were arrested: Diego Alberto Valdez Morales, Fabio Luis Gabilán, and Eladio Muñoz García, all with criminal records.
Cáceres Ojeda had already been arrested in January 2025 for participating in a robbery of an illegal currency exchange house and a residence in Alberdi, where hostages were assaulted. However, in May of the same year, he was released from prison and placed under house arrest by order of the Ñeembucú Court of Appeals, based in Pilar. The three judges responsible for the case argued that the Public Prosecutor's Office's request for pre-trial detention was not sufficiently substantiated.
After being granted leniency by the court, the former police officer resumed his criminal activities. He was identified as the leader of robberies targeting a delivery truck and the home of a German settler in San José de los Arroyos in March 2026, and is also believed to have participated in bank robberies in Santa Rita and a mining company in Paso Yobái. Police attempted to recapture him at his house arrest address, but he had already fled.
Cáceres's death has reignited criticism from the Alberdi community towards the Judiciary, which had been warned about the risk of the former officer reoffending after his release.