The Attorney General, Francisco Barbosa Delgado, shared experiences in the fight against transnational crime with Bolivia

During the visit to that country, mechanisms to face threats such as money laundering were discussed, as well as strengthening strategies to prosecute illicit assets.

As part of the strategy to strengthen judicial cooperation with the countries of the region, the Attorney General, Francisco Barbosa Delgado, held a meeting with his Bolivian counterpart, Juan Lanchipa Ponce, to establish joint plans to fight transnational crime.

“This was a meeting where we shared common philosophies: the fight against criminality, the fight against organized crime, the fight against transnational crime, the fight against drug trafficking, against illegal mining, against crimes that affect our environment, the fight for the protection of our ancestral people, as we in Colombia also share historically ancestral populations that have been discriminated and that, of course, we are establishing mechanisms to improve the mechanisms of justice, that is why discussions have been held in Colombia regarding the Special Indigenous Jurisdiction”, stated the Attorney General of Colombia in Bolivia.

In the bilateral meeting, held in La Paz (Bolivia), experiences were shared on money laundering, tax crimes, and migrant smuggling, among other behaviors that cross borders.

“This visit is even more important because it allows us (…) to project ourselves into the future in order to identify areas for joint action and institutional development to improve our services and promote the levels of cooperation, which is one of the most important fields of action of the AIAMP”, said the Attorney General of Bolivia, Juan Lanchipa Ponce.

Fight against transnational crime. During the meeting between the attorneys general of Colombia and Bolivia, it was agreed to strengthen joint mechanisms to investigate threats such as money laundering, exchange of official information and the pursuit of the assets of the parties involved in these illicit activities.

Currently, there are structural processes against two organizations that operate in both countries. The evidence indicates that they are involved in drug trafficking and money laundering through front companies and the purchase and sale of cattle.

Likewise, and at the request of the Bolivian Prosecutor’s Office, emphasis was placed on the harmonious work carried out by the Colombian Prosecutor’s Office with the Special Indigenous Jurisdiction, in which respect for competencies and the coordination of investigative activities have prevailed.

Likewise, the differential approach given to known cases in which the victims are members of indigenous communities has been a determining factor, based on a guide that provides tools to prosecutors and judicial police members to conduct investigations and understand the cosmovision of the ancestral people.

In addition, training is provided to indigenous authorities and judicial officers in aspects such as chain of custody and management of the crime scene, stages of the criminal process, environmental crimes, sexual violence, and domestic violence.

These strategies have made it possible to improve the institutional response to the criminal behaviors that affect indigenous people. In homicide, there has been progress in the clarification of 58.1% of known cases in 2022, compared to 35.5% in 2021. In sexual violence, there are effective judicial results in 55% of the cases reported in 2022, higher than  19.7% in 2021.

For its part, the Attorney General’s Office in Bolivia presented its initiative ‘Justicia Libre’ (Free Justice), which allows the interoperability of processes between the Ministerio Público, the Judiciary, and the police. This model was presented for the consideration of the countries that are part of the Ibero-American Association of Public Prosecutor’s Offices (Asociación Iberoamericana de Ministerios Públicos AIAMP in Spanish), so that it becomes a tool to facilitate judicial cooperation processes.

In order to learn more about this dynamic, the Attorney General, Francisco Barbosa Delgado, also visited El Alto, Tiahuanaco and Guaqui.

This exchange of experiences is part of the work plan established by the Attorney General, who leads the presidency of AIAMP, to strengthen investigative initiatives against international crime.

When we speak, results follow.

The information contained in this press release corresponds to the narration of the objective news provided by the officials in charge of carrying out criminal investigations within the Office of the Attorney General. By the time this communication is disclosed, the legal status of the people mentioned is still pending to be resolved by the competent judicial authority, always under the presumption of innocence contemplated by Article 29 of the Political Constitution and Article 7 of Law 906 of 2004.