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Bolivia reports 33,608 rounds of ammunition missing from elite military barracks
🇵🇾 Paraguay /Conflict & Security

Bolivia reports 33,608 rounds of ammunition missing from elite military barracks

From ABC Color · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Newswire From a news agency Under investigation
  • Defense Minister Ernesto Justiniano reported that 33,608 rounds of 5.56×45 mm ammunition disappeared from a military regiment in Montero.
  • Authorities sealed and isolated the ammunition depot and opened an internal investigation alongside a police complaint.
  • The incident follows a separate reported theft of weapons and ammunition from a Bolivian naval infantry battalion in April.

Bolivia’s defense minister reported the disappearance of 33,608 rounds of ammunition from an elite military barracks in the country’s eastern region, triggering an investigation into responsibility and the supplies’ destination.

5.56 × 45 millimeters

— Ernesto JustinianoThe defense minister identified the caliber of the missing ammunition.

The ammunition went missing from the Jungle Commandos Regiment 12, Colonel Francisco Manchego, in Montero, about 54 kilometers north of Santa Cruz. The regiment trains soldiers in jungle tactics and counterterrorism.

Minister Ernesto Justiniano said the rounds were 5.56×45 millimeters, a caliber commonly used in assault rifles and light machine guns. He ordered the depot closed and isolated while authorities carry out a specialized inspection and an internal investigation, and refer the case to the competent police authorities.

The closure and isolation of the depot

— Ernesto JustinianoJustiniano described the immediate security measure ordered at the barracks.

Justiniano said officials would not “hide or minimize” the incident. The investigation, he said, must determine what happened, who was responsible and, above all, where the ammunition went.

Hide or minimize

— Ernesto JustinianoThe minister said authorities would not conceal or downplay the incident.

Bolivia reported another military weapons theft in April at a naval infantry battalion in Chua Cocani, near Lake Titicaca, which Bolivia shares with Peru. Investigators partially recovered that material and determined that a sailor helped carry out the theft after being contacted by a network involved in illicit activities in mining regions, mainly in northern La Paz department.

The investigation must establish what happened, who is responsible and, fundamentally, where that ammunition went.

— Ernesto JustinianoJustiniano outlined the main questions investigators must answer.
About this summary

Originally published by ABC Color in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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