Bolivian police sub‑lieutenant killed in border shooting after farm massacre

On 30 May, sub‑lieutenant Gerson Salazar Aliendres of Bolivia’s Centro Especial de Investigación Policial (CEIP) was ambushed and killed near the town of San Matías on the Bolivia‑Mato Grosso border. While traveling in a pickup, heavily armed gunmen opened fire with machine‑guns, set the vehicle ablaze and fled on motorcycles.

The killing came a day after a separate armed attack on the Campo Nuevo farm in the same border region. Three men – Luis Alberto Rapp, Manuel Eguez Hurtado and Deys Espinoza Pedraza – were found dead and a fourth victim was seriously injured. Authorities suspect the farm assault involved Brazilian gunmen and may have been motivated by a personal dispute. Investigators are probing possible links between the two incidents, citing the involvement of transnational criminal groups and trafficking. Search and security operations have been reinforced by the FELCC and units from San Ignacio de Velasco, but no arrests have been reported.