23 August 2024 , 14:36
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Paraguayan police killed a parliamentarian in a violent region of the country during a shootout that erupted in an overnight raid on his house where officers and prosecutors had arrived to search for evidence of his involvement in drug trafficking and money laundering.
Deputy Eulalio “Lalo” Gomes, a member of the Colorado Party, died on Monday when special agents who arrived at 3:15 am at his home in Pedro Juan Caballero, on the border with Brazil, fired two shots at him. The raid was part of an investigation into the deputy’s alleged links to a now-dismantled criminal structure that was led by Brazilian drug trafficker Jarvis Chimenes Pavão.
Almost simultaneously, officers carried out another raid at the home of the deputy’s son, Alexandre Rodríguez Gomes, in the same town. Rodríguez Gomes allegedly managed to escape initially but later turned himself in and is now under arrest.
Deputy Gomes and his son were charged with money laundering connected to international drug trafficking.
This was the first time that Paraguayan authorities had officially targeted Gomes, although he had been named in several publications as an important collaborator of drug traffickers in the border area.
In December 2019, the newspaper Última Hora reported that Gomes’ son, Alexandre, attended a birthday party held on the border by businessman Darío Messer, who was at the time a fugitive from Paraguayan and Brazilian justice.
Messer, described as a “soul brother” by former Paraguayan President Horacio Cartes—who has been sanctioned by the United States for alleged acts of corruption—is considered “the king of money launderers.”
Messer has been sentenced to 13 years in prison for being one of the main financiers of the largest money laundering scheme in Latin America, which later led to the Lava Jato operation in Brazil.
Relatives of “Lalo” Gomes told local media that police officers entered the house and practically executed Gomes. They have called for an investigation to determine what really happened.
Pedro Juan Caballero in Paraguay and Ponta Porã in Brazil are two towns separated by just a cobblestone road. For decades, the area has been seen as a crime hotspot. Many Brazilian and Paraguayan drug traffickers have started their careers in this region.
Lalo Gomes was a deputy for the Colorado Party in the Amambay region, the most violent in Paraguay, with a rate of 101.8 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants.
Gomes was also a sports leader and a member of the Rural Association of Paraguay (ARP), an elite organization that brings together the country’s most prominent cattle ranchers.
The Paraguayan prosecutor’s investigation claims in its indictment that Gomes and his son were part of the money laundering scheme of the criminal organization led by Chimenes Pavão and that they collaborated with the group’s drug trafficking operations.
Brazilian media have reported that Gomes also had contacts with members of the “Mota clan,” led by Antonio Mota and his son “Motinha,” two Brazilian cattle ranchers investigated for drug trafficking and money laundering, known as “the bosses” of the border between Paraguay and Brazil.
Mota was arrested by Brazilian police in February 2024 but released five days ago because of a procedural error made during his trial. His son remains at large.