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Mexico has new business manager in Bolivia 0:41
(CNN Spanish) - A woman who worked with Juan Ramón Quintana, former Minister of the Presidency of Bolivia in the Evo Morales government, was arrested at the El Alto International Airport by the Migration authorities in Bolivia with a total of US $ 100,000 dollars in cash, confirmed the Minister of Government of the transition Arturo Murillo on Wednesday.
The minister said they presume that the woman, who has been identified as María Palacios, intended to take the cash to Argentina to support activities carried out by former President Evo Morales in that country.
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The defendant denied these accusations and said the money was to pay salaries and per diem to staff in Argentina. "I had to pay staff who are working in PDVSA," Palacios said when presented at the press conference of the Minister of Government.
Murillo said that the said did not declare to Migration that he was traveling with that amount of money.
“We have a migratory flow of many trips of the lady who has been detained just in October, November and December has left Paraguay and has left Argentina many times. Unfortunately, we have been able to capture it today because our intelligence and alert systems are working much better and we are capturing people who are doing illegal activities, ”Murillo said in televised statements.
PDVSA offices raided
Following the arrest of these people with cash, the search of the offices of Petróleos de Venezuela SA in La Paz was ordered, prosecutor Marco Villa reported.
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“In the intervention of the Department of Criminal Analysis and Intelligence (DACI) and the Prosecutor's Office at the house of the apprehended (María Palacios) and PDVSA offices were found elements of conviction that will be analyzed to establish the relationship of Palacios with that company and the former (of the Presidency) Juan Ramón Quintana, ”said Prosecutor Villa on Wednesday.
CNN contacted PDVSA in Venezuela and is waiting for a response.
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