Bolivia has extradited its former anti-narcotics chief to the United States, where he faces drug trafficking charges.
Maximiliano Davila, also known as “Macho Man,” is accused of facilitating the smuggling of cocaine into the United States during his tenure as head of Bolivia's Drug Enforcement Agency.
Bolivia's Supreme Court approved his extradition, which took place on Thursday, in late November. He denies any wrongdoing.
Davila has been imprisoned in Bolivia on corruption charges since February 2022.
That same month, US officials unsealed an indictment charging the 60-year-old with cocaine trafficking and a related weapons charge.
The US State Department alleges that Davila was involved in drug trafficking before and during his time as director of the Bolivian Special Forces to Combat Drug Trafficking (FELCN).
It says Davila used his position “to protect aircraft used to transport cocaine to third countries, for subsequent distribution in the United States.”
If convicted, he faces a minimum of 10 years in prison and a maximum life sentence, according to US documents.
The State Department in 2022 offered a reward of up to $5 million (£4 million) for information that could lead to his conviction.
Davila was director of FELCN under former President Evo Morales, who ruled Bolivia from 2006 to 2019.
Shortly after Davila's extradition, Morales criticized the move and said, “Bolivia has once again become an American colony,” in a post on his X account.
“Bolivians are being extradited to the North American empire, in violation of international agreements, without first being tried in their homeland where they are supposed to have committed crimes,” he added.
In 2008, Morales expelled the US and DEA ambassador from Bolivia on charges of conspiring against his government.
Morales himself is under investigation for rape of minors and human trafficking, which he denies. His supporters recently organized a siege across the country for weeks to demand an end to the investigation against him.
And in November he rose He posted a video clip showing his car being shot atIn what he called an “assassination attempt” against him.
The Bolivian government rejected Morales' claims that it was behind the assassination attempt on him.
