Paraguay orders removal of nearly 90 police officers, many linked to crimes

Paraguay’s executive branch has issued 86 decrees removing nearly 90 members of the National Police. Forty-four officers received dishonorable discharges for serious or very serious misconduct, while 42 took voluntary retirement.

The measure combines disciplinary action against officers linked to serious criminal schemes with a wave of retirement requests following a recent reform of the public pension fund. It affects personnel across different ranks.

Among those expelled is noncommissioned officer Gustavo Adolfo Florentín Silva, whose 24-year prison sentence for the intentional killing of Rodrigo Quintana became final after a Supreme Court ruling. Quintana was killed at the headquarters of the Authentic Radical Liberal Party in March 2017.

The decrees also name officers linked to drug trafficking. Senior noncommissioned officer Valvino Melgarejo Galeano was dismissed after the Navy arrested him in early 2025 with a marijuana shipment in Canindeyú. Senior noncommissioned officer José Isacio Peralta Martínez, who was convicted of drug trafficking, was also removed. The article says he was involved last year in the discovery of cocaine, marijuana and pills inside the police Special Operations Group.

Other cases include noncommissioned officer Richard Adolfo Barrientos Agüero, detained over the alleged kidnapping of a suspected drug trafficker in Luque during an irregular operation involving 50 kilograms of cocaine. Bonifacio Fabián Britos Benítez was linked to the extortion of Asian citizens and the seizure of another large drug shipment in Alto Paraná. His brother, Miguel Alejandro Britos Benítez, was also dismissed.