A Cuban citizen was arrested this Tuesday accused of being part of the criminal gang that shot and killed three people who intended to buy 100,000 dollars over the weekend in La Paz, Bolivia, authorities in that country reported.
Yarinel Martínez Maqueira, alias Yari, was arrested for his alleged involvement in the triple murder alongside three other suspects, identified as Omar and Norman Copaja Chuquimia and Jorge Catalán Osinaga.
The events occurred on Saturday night in the town of Unduavi, on the road connecting the department of La Paz with Los Yungas, when the four suspected perpetrators of the crime were transporting their victims in a minibus, whom they deceived with the false promise of selling them foreign currency "at an accessible exchange rate," reported the Minister of Government this Tuesday.Eduardo del Castillo, at a press conference in which the accused were presented.
The victims were identified as Verónica Aguirre, 34 years old; Domingo Santos Mamani, 33; and José Luis Vargas, 27 years old.
The three had gunshot wounds to the head, "from the skull forward, they have been executed," Del Castillo stated. They also had wounds in the neck area, caused by a sharp object after their death.
According to the authorities, last Saturday, around 10:00 p.m., the victims left their home in the San Agustín area of El Alto in a rented vehicle driven by one of the suspects, with the purpose of carrying out a monetary transaction. Their relatives reported them missing on Sunday.
Presumably, the three individuals had been contacted by Omar Copaja to carry out the purchase and sale of a large sum of dollars at a price of 7.10 bolivianos, in Los Yungas, at a time when the shortage of foreign currency has intensified in Bolivia, and many turn to the informal market to acquire it. The official exchange rate of the dollar is 1 to 6.96 bolivianos, but due to the lack of this currency in the country, it has reached a price in the black market of over 12 bolivianos, and at times even double or more its official value.
The four suspects convinced their victims to stop on the way before reaching Los Yungas under the pretext of "blessing" the money they were going to exchange, and in a place called "Tres Marías," they shot them to death to rob them.
The bodies of the young men were found on Monday morning, inside a wooden and metal shed that a local farmer used as a storage place. When he arrived there, the man thought the three were sleeping and tried to wake them up until he saw the blood and realized they were dead. He and his wife reported it to the police.
Copaja (Omar) was captured in Uyuni, in the department of Potosí, when he was presumably trying to leave Bolivia. According to the authorities, he had convinced Santos - a relative of his who would end up being one of the victims - to carry out the transaction; in addition, he was the driver of the minibus.
Martínez was arrested in a house he was guarding in the Ciudad Satélite area of El Alto. There, the police found a 9-millimeter firearm that was used to execute the victims. He traveled as a co-pilot in the vehicle that transported the three young men, as captured by surveillance cameras.
In La Paz, Catalán was also arrested while he was performing masonry work at the time of the detention. Finally, the police arrested Norman in El Alto, the fourth person involved in the brutal crime. None of the suspects have a criminal record.
After receiving the report of the young people's disappearance from their families, the authorities opened an investigation for the crime of trafficking and trafficking in persons. However, during the course of the investigation, the police obtained evidence that it was a murder.
The Minister of Government of Bolivia stated at the press conference that "there are sufficient elements, indications, and evidence that demonstrate they would be the authors. (...) We have changed the type of crime, which is no longer human trafficking, but they are being investigated and will be sentenced for the crime of murder."
The defendants could receive a 30-year prison sentence for the triple crime committed.
Martínez is originally from Nueva Gerona, Isla de la Juventud, obtained permanent residency in Bolivia in 2023, and has a five-year-old son born in the country.
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