US: Interim Bolivia official took bribes in tear gas deal

A former senior Bolivian official has been arrested in the U.S. for allegedly seeking at least $582,000 in kickbacks from Florida-based businessmen who are accused of selling tear gas at inflated prices to the former conservative government

MIAMI -- A former senior Bolivian official has been arrested for allegedly seeking at least $582,000 in kickbacks from a group of Florida-based businessmen accused of selling tear gas at inflated prices to the conservative government of former interim President Jeanine Áñez. Sergio Rodrigo Méndez was arrested May 21 in Naples, Florida, and charged with a single count of conspiring to commit money laundering, according to a previously unreported federal complaint out of Miami. Three alleged co-conspirators, all of them dual Bolivian-American citizens, were also detained, including the owner of Florida-based supplier of police and military equipment and his father, who press accounts indicate was charged two decades ago in Bolivia with weapons smuggling. Méndez served as the chief of staff to Arturo Murillo, who was interior minister in the Áñez government that took power in November 2019 after President Evo Morales stepped down amid violent protests disputing his reelection to a fourth straight term.