Paraguayan congressman resigns amid allegations of alleged drug trafficking

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Paraguayan pro-government congressman Juan Carlos Ozorio resigned his seat on Wednesday, after newspaper reports about his alleged participation in a structure dedicated to drug trafficking and apparently linked to the Brazilian criminal organization Comando Vermelho (Red Command).

Ozorio presented his “indeclinable” resignation to the post by means of a letter sent to the Chamber of Deputies, which this day held its first plenary session after resuming its activity the day before after the legislative recess.

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The politician, of the ruling Colorado Añetete movement, the same of the Paraguayan president, Mario Abdo Benítez, told reporters that his resignation was a personal decision, although he admitted that “it is a desire of the majority of the people”.

He clarified, in any case, that he has “nothing legally” to compromise him, but considered that, “politically, this is taken to another field”.

“The stress that all this generates is precisely what makes me make this determination”, argued the leader, who expressed his intention to make himself available to the authorities.

According to a thread posted on Twitter on Monday by journalist and cyber activist Alfredo Guachiré, Ozorio was the “head of a criminal organization in charge of producing cocaine and marijuana.”

Guachiré, who unveiled audios of alleged conversations involving the now ex-deputy, linked Ozorio to Óscar Agustín Sanabria, alias Jackie Chan or Bruce Lee, arrested by the National Anti-Drug Secretariat (Senad) in April 2021 in an operation in which cocaine and marijuana were seized.

In addition, the journalist indicated that the former legislator is a “key man” of Pastor José Insfrán, who is on the run from Paraguayan authorities who require him as part of the anti-drug operation “A Ultranza”.

He also linked the former legislator to an alleged payment of US$10,000 to the police for the release of a Bolivian national who would be the link with the Brazilians.

For his part, Alvaro Arias, Ozorio’s lawyer, said that his client “denies” that he is the person who speaks in the released audios, and indicated that they will request that this material be subjected to expert analysis by the Prosecutor’s Office.

“How can they prove that it is him?”, added the jurist, who anticipated that they will wait for a prosecutor to initiate an investigation and then they will offer the evidence of the defense.

With information from E