A man suspected of providing logistical support to the criminal group led by Felipe Santiago Acosta Riveros, known as "Macho," and to the structure of the self-styled Paraguayan People's Army (EPP) was captured in a joint military-police operation in the department of Canindeyú. The action took place on Saturday, July 11, at a residence in the locality of Guyra Keha, in the district of Yby Pytá.
The detainee was identified as 49-year-old Rafael Antonio Benítez Bogado. According to intelligence from the Military Intelligence Battalion (BIMI), Benítez Bogado allegedly acted simultaneously as a stash house operator for "Macho's" drug trafficking organization and as a member of the EPP's Terrorism Support Network (RAT).
During the operation, conducted by the Internal Defense Operations Command (CODI), a second civilian, 55-year-old José Díaz Escobar, was also detained for attempting to obstruct the authorities' work. Díaz Escobar's arrest was ordered by prosecutor Carlos Rodrigo Giandinotto Paredes of Penal Unit No. 3 of the Curuguaty Zonal Prosecutor's Office, on charges of obstruction of justice, resistance, and failure to report a crime.
The capture is part of an ongoing government offensive to dismantle the logistical network of Felipe Acosta Riveros, considered Paraguay's most wanted fugitive. Sentenced to 25 years in prison and a fugitive since 2016, "Macho" commands an extensive marijuana production and trafficking operation in the country's eastern region, part of which has already been dismantled in previous operations by Paraguay's National Anti-Drug Secretariat (SENAD) and the National Police.