Bolivia’s Vice Minister of Social Defense and Controlled Substances, Ernesto Justiniano, announced that the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will send full-time personnel to the country starting in June.
The measure is part of bilateral cooperation that seeks to intensify monitoring of cryptocurrencies used in money laundering of criminal organizations.
Justiniano, known as the “anti-drug czar,” made the statements after meeting with DEA authorities during an official visit to the United States. As he explained, the central axis of the conversations was the criminal network of Uruguayan drug trafficker Sebastián Marset, also linked to Brazilian factions such as the First Capital Command (PCC) and the Red Command.
“We are monitoring cryptocurrencies and the money of criminal organizations,” the official stated. The advertisement represents a another step in the reactivation of the relationship between Bolivia and the DEAinterrupted since 2008 when then-president Evo Morales expelled the US agents.
While Justiniano was clear in saying that digital assets will be tracked, it is not clear what that tracking will look like. According to what the official said, it will be the US authorities, in coordination with the Bolivian authorities, that will use blockchain intelligence tools for investigations.
Already United States agencies such as the Secret Service, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the Army and even the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) itself have contracted services from “blockchain surveillance” companies such as Chainalysis, Elliptic, CipherTrace or Coinbase, as CriptoNoticias has reported.
Since the beginning of 2026, under the government of President Rodrigo Paz, both countries have resumed the exchange of intelligence and training, although without a permanent presence until now.
Justiniano explained that the agents who They will arrive in June and will be dedicated mainly to intelligence tasks. and administrative support, replicating existing models in neighboring countries.
The vice minister emphasized the need to “economically impact” the mafias to prevent them from reconstituting themselves after operational coups. In that sense, the Tracking cryptocurrency transactions is presented as a key toolsince these networks have diversified their laundering mechanisms beyond the traditional financial system.
Cooperation also includes the sustained exchange of information on chemical precursors and export routes. Bolivian authorities have highlighted that joint work has already generated results in transnational investigations, although details of the framework agreement are still being finalized through the Foreign Ministry.
Bolivia, third world producer of cocafaces a complex panorama: official estimates indicate around 40,000 hectares of crops and a potential production of 300 tons of cocaine per year.
Regional security experts consider that this greater DEA presence could strengthen the capabilities of the Special Force to Fight Drug Trafficking (FELCN), but it also poses logistical and sovereignty challenges that the Bolivian government will have to balance. For now, Justiniano assured that the arrival of personnel does not imply unilateral operations, but rather coordinated work under Bolivian law.