Police chief summoned over foreign inmate escapes

The Bolivian Public Ministry has summoned the Commander General of the Bolivian Police, Mirko Sokol, to appear as a witness in an ongoing investigation into the escape of foreign inmates from Qalauma and Chonchocoro prisons. The investigation seeks to uncover whether the escapes resulted from negligence, internal security lapses, or potential complicity.

General Sokol is scheduled to appear before the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office in El Alto on Monday, July 20, at 11:30 AM. The summons explicitly warns that failure to appear without a legal justification will result in an arrest warrant being issued, as per legal procedure. The document was signed by Weimar Molina, a Public Ministry prosecutor, and dated July 17, 2026.

This inquiry follows two significant escapes in late 2025. On December 28, 2025, a 25-year-old inmate escaped from the Qalauma Youth Reintegration Center in Viacha, La Paz. Prior to this, on December 17, 2025, two highly dangerous Brazilian nationals, Jangledson De Olivera and Óscar Junior Terra Días, escaped from the Chonchocoro prison, also in La Paz.

De Olivera, 37, known by the alias "Nem da Gerusa," was identified as a key operator within the Brazilian criminal organization Comando Vermelho, allegedly responsible for financing international human trafficking networks. He had been apprehended in November 2025 in Guayaramerín, Beni, during a joint operation involving Bolivian and Brazilian authorities. The investigation into the escapes aims to establish accountability and prevent future security breaches within the correctional system.