Brazilian Drug Lord Nabbed

The police arrested a powerful Brazilian drug trafficker, Lourival Máximo da Fonseca, in the Bolivian jungle and announced his immediate surrender to his country, the government reported.

"We have achieved the arrest of Mr. Lourival Máximo Da Fonseca of Brazilian nationality," said the Minister of Government (Interior), Eduardo Del Castillo, at a press conference.

The authority assured that the detainee "has prison orders from the Federative Republic of Brazil" and that he is accused "of the crimes of illicit drug trafficking and association for illicit drug trafficking."

The Bolivian police carried out operations since Wednesday, following intelligence work, in Bolivia's Chiquitanía, a jungle area in the department of Santa Cruz.

During the capture, a shootout occurred between the group of drug traffickers and the uniformed officers, with no injuries or deaths reported.

Along with Máximo da Fonseca, alias Tiao, the police arrested six more people: three Bolivians, two Brazilians and an Albanian.

Del Castillo explained that he "dismantled a drug trafficking gang" and that it was linked to cocaine shipments to Europe.

He assured that the group is linked to two drug shipments seized in Bolivia and Peru, during the month of January.

8.7 tons of cocaine were seized on Bolivian soil and 7.2 tons of cocaine on Peruvian soil, similarly hidden in wooden tiles.

Bolivia, after Colombia and Peru, is considered the third largest producer of cocaine in the world, according to the UN.

The country shares a 3,423 kilometer border with Brazil and there are areas where the transfer of controlled substances takes place.

According to La Paz, mafias in Bolivia process Bolivian and Peruvian coca into cocaine to export it through different routes through Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina and Chile.