The Bolivian justice ordered 60 days of preventive detention for three people investigated for the alleged recruitment of Bolivian citizens to be sent to Russia with the aim of fighting the war against Ukraine.
The accused are the brother, son and son-in-law of Amador M., the main suspect of leading the trafficking organizationand against whom an immigration alert was activated, despite the fact that the Police presume that he fled to Brazil after the complaints.
The defense of the accused pointed out at the hearing that their clients were dedicated to carrying out immigration procedures for third parties and denied that they were linked to the system of illegal recruitment of people.
However, The Prosecutor’s Office based the precautionary measure on the risks of escape and obstruction of the investigation. “The Public Ministry has substantiated the participation and individualization of each of these actors who are part of the criminal network and the judge determined to send them to Palmasola prison (Santa Cruz) for 60 days,” he reported at the end of the hearing. the prosecutor of the Trafficking and Trafficking Unit, Mijail Cavero.
The three detainees were arrested on Thursday afternoon during of Santa Cruz de la Sierra in which at least 50 passports were found and where it is presumed that the victims were staying temporarily before making the trip.
The investigation was opened after public complaints from relatives of two young people — José María Soleto, 29, and Iván Valdivia, 28— who were allegedly sent to Russia in April with false job offers and died in the armed conflict with Ukraine.
According to official information, the Public Ministry investigates at least 16 cases of alleged victims who were captured through deception and the Foreign Ministry activated assistance mechanisms for Bolivians who remain in Russia. Meanwhile, the Bolivian diplomatic representation in Moscow sent an official note to the Government last week to request information about the case, but it is not yet known if there was a response.
Since the case spread, The Russian Embassy in Bolivia denied being linked to the recruitment system, but in armed conflicts as a practice that occurs “all over the world.”
An international trafficking and smuggling network
The Bolivian case is not exceptional. A couple of months ago it was revealed that at least 600 Peruvians had been recruited for the armed conflict and that at least 13 had died in the conflict.
According to one and testimonies collected by Infobaethe recruitment network operates in several Latin American countries using a combination of social engineering, financial promises and the exploitation of socioeconomic vulnerability.
The mafias have perfected a recruitment mechanism that evades immigration controls and ends with hundreds of Latin American citizens trapped on the Ukrainian front.
This scheme became evident in June 2026 with the return of who had been recruited with promises of work in the agriculture and construction sectors in Russia. Upon arriving in Moscow, they were stripped of their passports and began to pressure them to enlist as mercenaries in the Ukrainian war.
After moments of extreme tension, The subjects managed to escape the trafficking network and contact the diplomatic authorities to return to their country.
Source: Infobae
