The physique of the murdered deputy Eulalio Gomes arrives on the judicial morgue in Asuncion on Monday, August 19, 2024. A lawmaker in Paraguay’s ruling occasion was killed at his dwelling Monday in a shootout with drug enforcement brokers, police mentioned. (Photograph by DANIEL DUARTE / Agence France-Presse)
ASUNCION, Paraguay — A Paraguayan ruling occasion lawmaker was killed at his dwelling Monday in a shootout with drug enforcement brokers on the lookout for his son, police mentioned.
Officers got here underneath fireplace at Eulalio Gomes’ dwelling within the nation’s northeast and shot again, “mortally wounding the parliamentarian,” based on police chief Carlos Benitez.
Gomes, 67, was a member of the conservative Colorado occasion.
The operation, police mentioned, had focused his son Alexandre underneath a warrant for “individuals suspected of being a part of a scheme of cash laundering from drug trafficking and felony affiliation.”
Prices have additionally been filed towards Eulalio Gomes however police mentioned his arrest had not been on the playing cards as he loved parliamentary safety.
His son later turned himself in.
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Colleagues of Gomes condemned the killing and requested for the heads of Benitez and the inside minister.
His lawyer, Oscar Tuma, claimed Gomes had been unarmed and was “killed in his mattress.”
Paraguay is stricken by corruption and drug-related crime.
It has a rating of 28 out of 100 on Transparency Worldwide’s Corruption Perceptions Index, with zero being the bottom.
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Specialists say landlocked Paraguay — nestled between Brazil, Bolivia and Argentina — has develop into an vital launchpad for medication headed to Europe.
“The hyperlinks between drug trafficking and politics have gotten more and more worrying,” Paraguayan criminologist Juan Martens advised Agence France-Presse.
“There may be details about… mayors, councilors of cities… and political leaders who’re underneath suspicion,” he mentioned.
Thought-about one of many richest politicians in Paraguay, Gomes owned 14 farms and 15,000 head of cattle, amongst different belongings, based on official data.