Cablegate: Anti-Drug Agents Arrest First Capital Command

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O 151739Z OCT 08
FM AMEMBASSY ASUNCION
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7313
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C O N F I D E N T I A L ASUNCION 000701

SIPDIS

STATE FOR WHA/BSC MDASCHBACH, INL FOR NL/LP ASMITH, DGRAHAM

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/31/2033
TAGS: SNAR MOPS PGOV BR BL PA
SUBJECT: ANTI-DRUG AGENTS ARREST FIRST CAPITAL COMMAND
NARCOS

Classified By: DCM Michael J. Fitzpatrick for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

1. (C) Paraguay's National Anti-Drug Secretariat (SENAD)
arrested six members of the Sao Paulo-based gang First
Capital Command October 13 operating near Pedro Juan
Caballero (PJC), Amambay Department. SENAD agents -- with
the assistance of the U.S.-trained Paraguayan Military
Forces' Joint Immediate Response Unit (DCEI) -- apprehended
five Brazilians and one Paraguayan at a ranch near PJC owned
by the PCC's primary representative in Paraguay, Carlos
Antonio Caballero. (NOTE: Caballero was arrested October 11
at the airport in Guarayos, Bolivia in possession of 277
kilograms of cocaine. END NOTE.) SENAD agents arrested
Caballero's son-in-law and designated successor, Brazilian
Leandro Reis dos Nacimentos, who has an outstanding arrest
warrant in Brazil for his involvement in the PCC, as well as
Brazilians Olavo Cavalante da Silva, Jorge Luis Gomes Durate,
Arnaldo Lobo Viana, and Paraguayan Ramon Jimenez Delgado.

2. (C) SENAD agents arrested the PCC gang members during a
raid of Caballero's ranch carried out under "Operation
Alliance II," a mission jointly executed by SENAD and DCEI
with additional support from the United States and Brazil.
Prosecutors authorized SENAD agents to search designated
ranches in the departments of Amambay and Alto Parana --
including Caballero's property -- for evidence of narcotics
operations, to arrest individuals suspected of cultivating
marijuana, and to burn marijuana fields. Brazilian
authorities provided SENAD with information about the PCC
that led SENAD to execute the raid, and the Brazilian
military conducted concurrent military exercises on its side
of the Brazilian-Paraguayan border to support the operation.

3. (C) COMMENT: This arrest represents a big
counternarcotics success for the Lugo administration, which
has been in office only two months. It is particularly
significant since it stems from international cooperation
with Brazil and the United States. The USG (via DEA, State
INL and DOD funding) provides ongoing financial assistance,
training and equipment to both SENAD and DCEI. U.S.
assistance enabled SENAD and DCEI to launch "Operation
Alliance II" this year and "Operation Alliance I" in 2007,
which resulted in the destruction of over USD 800 million in
marijuana destined for the Brazilian market. END COMMENT.

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