Paraguay
Filizzola called for Jalil Rachid to be investigated over his political responsibility at the helm of SENAD
The senator questioned the continued presence of officials with alleged ties to organized crime in sensitive areas of the agency. He also called for progress from the Public Prosecutor's Office and transparency regarding wiretapping equipment.
Senator Rafael Filizzola called for the head of the National Anti-Drug Secretariat, Jalil Rachid, to be investigated for his political responsibility at the helm of the agency, ABC Color reported.
According to the lawmaker, Rachid kept in key posts people with direct connections to the late congressman Eulalio Lalo Gómez. Filizzola said those ties would have favored interests linked to drug trafficking and facilitated impunity within the institution.
According to ABC Color, the senator said the head of SENAD knew about the internal situation and stressed that the permanence of officials allegedly linked to criminal organizations in strategic posts constitutes a serious offense. In that context, he demanded that the Public Prosecutor’s Office move forward with the investigation.
Filizzola also rejected Rachid’s stance, after he had described the investigations as a boycott or a coup against the institution and his administration. The senator replied that the Prosecutor’s Office is acting on the basis of concrete evidence.
He also questioned the Public Prosecutor’s Office for what he considered a selective investigation. According to ABC Color, he mentioned the cases of Marco Alcaraz and Lorenzo Lezcano, whose alleged ties to the mafia, in his view, were not pursued further.
The lawmaker also raised doubts about the purchase of wiretapping equipment by Itaipú for SENAD. On that point, he called for clarification on the protocol to ensure that those interceptions are carried out in accordance with the law and with a court order.
For Filizzola, there are still too many facts and suspicions that require a thorough investigation, and that review, he said, must also reach the current authorities and the Executive Branch.
Sources
About this note. Written by El Notero with assistance from artificial intelligence, based on what was published by the cited outlet. El Notero did not conduct its own reporting on this event.
