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Three people were detained in Capiatá, Paraguay, on suspicion of using stolen checks valued at about $350,000 to try to buy up to 100,000 liters of fuel, while police seized weapons, vehicles and cash and continued the investigation.
The National Anti-Drug Secretariat (SENAD) destroyed more than 10 tons of marijuana in operations in Capitán Bado and Karapa’i, seizing weapons, more than 100 rounds of ammunition and processing equipment, while official reports differed on seeds, vehicles, the estimated value and the number of detentions.
The Ciudad del Este Trial Court sentenced eight police officers to between seven and 12 years for the double homicide of Alex Ortiz Estigarribia and Gloria Espínola Cáceres, who died after a pursuit of Carlos Cato Cabrera, while two officers were acquitted and Jaime Javier Ramírez Brítez was not tried at this stage.
Paraguayan authorities incinerated 40,048 kilograms of marijuana seized in 1,327 packages hidden in 23 underground storage sites in Paso Bravo National Park. The shipment was estimated to be worth US$6.5 million on the Brazilian market, while the investigation continues to identify those responsible.
Paraguay bought ammunition valued at G. 8.2 billion from the United States through the FMS program for operations against organized crime and terrorism, while expanding air surveillance with radars and six Super Tucano aircraft that helped reduce detected illicit flights, although Senad estimates that about 20 drug-trafficking aircraft still enter the country each month.
The courts ordered the pretrial detention of three agents and Helga Solís Gómez over alleged leaks linked to Lalo Gomes, while Senator Rafael Filizzola demanded an investigation into Minister Jalil Rachid, criticized the Public Prosecutor’s Office for selective action and questioned the lack of transparency surrounding the transfer of Itaipu-funded interception equipment.
Paraguayan authorities are investigating a possible international human trafficking network for labor exploitation after finding about 200 workers, most of them Brazilian, in call centers at the AURA Paraguay building in Asunción, where more than 40% of the Brazilian workers were reportedly in irregular immigration status.
Three Copaco employees were detained in Mariano Roque Alonso, Paraguay, on suspicion of removing without authorization about 300 meters of underground cable valued at up to G. 35 million; the material was recovered and the case is under investigation by the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Helga Solís Gómez, the niece of deceased lawmaker Lalo Gomes, turned herself in to police in Pedro Juan Caballero and was transferred to Asunción, where she will be investigated along with four current and former National Anti-Drug Secretariat (SENAD) employees for alleged criminal association, influence peddling, information leaks and obstruction of investigations.
The Paso Bravo Operation seized 40,048 kilograms of pressed marijuana, valued at about US$6 million, hidden in 23 underground storage sites in Paso Bravo National Park, in northern Paraguay, near the border with Brazil.
Paraguay’s Chamber of Deputies approved a bill by Yamil Esgaib amending the Penal Code and providing for sentences of up to 15 years for officials who facilitate the escape of people deprived of their liberty, sending the text to the Senate.
Paraguay’s Public Prosecutor’s Office charged Capitán Bado judge Cristhian Ariel Sánchez Zaracho with allegedly attempting to launder assets by ordering the auction of two properties linked to the Luiz Carlos da Rocha, known as Cabeça Branca, case despite active criminal restrictions.
Paraguay’s Public Prosecutor’s Office has charged five people and sought pretrial detention for four current or former members of the National Anti-Drug Secretariat (SENAD) and Lalo Gomes’s niece, who are suspected of leaking information about anti-drug operations to benefit the former lawmaker’s family. The case also involves the seizure of 4.255 kilograms of cocaine bound for Brazil and questions over the transfer of the agency’s telephone-interception system.
A Paraguayan woman was among six people killed when an illegally built structure under construction collapsed in São Paulo, while another operation arrested seven people and seized more than a ton of marijuana allegedly brought from Paraguay into Paraná.
According to reports by Última Hora and El Nacional, Paraguay’s Criminal Appeals Court rejected the defense appeals and upheld the convictions of three former police officers for torturing political prisoners between 1976 and 1978. Fortunato Laspina and Eusebio Torres received 25 years, while Manuel Alcaraz received 20 years.
Paraguay’s Public Prosecutor’s Office prioritizes the theory that Hugo Javier González fell after becoming unwell but is keeping open the possibility of an assault while awaiting tests and forensic examinations; his cellmate reaffirmed the account, and the defense ruled out a targeted attack.
Operations by the National Anti-Drug Secretariat and Brazil’s Federal Revenue Service seized about 595 kilograms of marijuana in Salto del Guairá and at the Friendship Bridge on the Paraguay-Brazil border.
The September 2021 murder of Mauricio Schuartzman in Asunción converged with Operation Smart and the A Ultranza investigation into an international cocaine-trafficking and money-laundering network attributed by authorities to Sebastián Marset and Miguel Insfrán, leading to the operation’s launch five months later.
Brazilian businessman Luciano Pampado Casquel, also known in Paraguay as Luciano Pereira Castelo, fled after Paraguay’s courts ordered his arrest for extradition to Brazil, where he is wanted for homicide, after he was filmed threatening a truck driver with a pistol in Asunción.
The National Police and ANDE seized 25 cryptocurrency-mining machines from a residence in Ciudad del Este after residents reported intense noise, and the case was referred to the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
The National Directorate of Migration recorded more than 3,000 migration security procedures in Paraguay between January and August 2026, including travel bans, refusals of entry, expulsions, transfers to security forces and extraditions.
A 20-year-old Paraguayan woman was rescued by Brazil’s Federal Police in Marechal Cândido Rondon after being lured to Brazil by a false job offer and taken to a brothel, while authorities investigate those responsible and possible other victims.
Former Zanja Pytã mayor Manuel Velázquez Marín was sentenced to five years in prison for possession of dangerous drugs after more than 70 kilograms of marijuana were seized at a rural property in Amambay in 2022.
The Central Bank of Paraguay will unveil a new family of guarani banknotes on October 5, 2026. The notes will enter circulation in the first quarter of 2027 with the same denominations, new designs, different sizes, new materials and security features, while current notes are gradually withdrawn.