Felipe Caceres Garcia, former Vice Minister of Social Defense and Controlled Substances during almost the entire government of Evo Morales (2006–2019), was arrested this Tuesday in an operation by the Special Force to Fight Drug Trafficking (FELCN), who found a cocaine crystallization laboratory on a property he owned in the municipality of Puerto Villarroel.

During the operation, anti-drug agents found a camouflaged path that led to a facility hidden among the vegetation. According to the police report, on the property—which also housed an aggregates company registered in Caceres' name—a laboratory was discovered equipped with separate areas for processing cocaine hydrochloride, including diluting, filtering, drying, pressing, and storing chemical substances.

The intervention also led to the seizure and destruction of chemical precursors: 2,000 liters of acetate, 200 liters of gasoline, 50 kilos of activated carbon, 50 kilos of bisulfite, 40 liters of acid, and 50 kilos of permanganate. The facility was equipped to house at least 10 people, according to the FELCN.

Caceres was not carrying any identification at the time of his arrest and was taken to police cells in UMOPAR-Chimore, awaiting a hearing.

Key Figure in Anti-Drug Policy

Caceres' arrest has had an impact on the Bolivian political scene. During his tenure as deputy minister, he was one of the main operators of the State's anti-drug policy, leading the eradication of surplus coca crops, cooperation with international organizations, and the control of chemical precursors.

His career includes positions as mayor of Villa Tunari in the 1990s and union leader in Chapare, Morales' political stronghold. In 2019, he was questioned about alleged illicit enrichment after his declared assets increased from 1.9 million to more than 9 million bolivianos (approximately $1.2 million). Caceres claimed that his assets were the product of "honest, transparent, and family work."

Reactions and Political Context

Former Government Minister Carlos Romero,who was in charge of the vice ministry led by Caceres, expressed his surprise at the arrest and called for a transparent investigation. "The news isn't very clear. Some versions say the laboratory was on his property; others indicate there was only an aggregate factory and that the laboratory was nearby," he stated.

The arrest comes less than 48 hours after the detention of Elba Teran, a woman with a history of drug trafficking and political ties. Teran was arrested with 10 kilos of cocaine in the Chapare and sent to preventive detention for 30 days. She had already been convicted in 2020 for the same crime, but apparently did not serve her sentence.

Although Evo Morales has not commented on any of these arrests, senator and coca grower leader Leonardo Loza denounced an alleged campaign to link the former president to drug trafficking.

"Since they cannot defeat us electorally or socially, they intend to involve us at all costs in illicit matters," he said.