The Paraguayan Senate stripped Erico Galeano Segovia of his immunity in 2023 so he could face charges for his alleged role in a criminal group that smuggled cocaine into Europe in 2020 and 2021, the prosecutors’ office, known as the Public Ministry, said in a statement.
Galeano, a member of the Colorado Party, along with Paraguayan President Santiago Peña Palacios, is accused of lending his private plane to Sebastian Marset Cabrera, an Uruguayan who presented himself as a soccer player, but in reality, they worked together and with other alleged drug traffickers. Additionally, the Prosecutor's Office accuses him of selling his property to a frontman of drug trafficker Miguel Insfrán, alias Tio Rico, for US$1 million in cash. According to the Paraguayan prosecutor's office, Tio Rico and Marset trafficked cocaine together.
In a three-day hearing this week, Galeano’s defense team had argued that the charges should be dismissed, Paraguayan media reported. But Judge Osmar Legal disagreed, and elevated his case to trial, where he will face charges of money laundering as well as criminal association.
Galeano was allegedly part of a drug trafficking operation involving Marset. In fact, Galeano and Marset would have used a semi-professional soccer club in Paraguay to launder money, according to the Paraguayan prosecutor's office. Marset also inserted himself into the teams, although he reportedly struggled to keep up with the professional players he was paying.
Paraguayan authorities launched Operativo A Ultranza PY to take down the trafficking group that included Marset and Galeano in February 2022. So far five Paraguayans have been convicted and dozens are still under investigation, including Juan Carlos Ozorio, another politician from the Colorado Party.
Ozorio was a member of parliament, but he resigned in March 2022 after being charged. Like Galeano, he has been ordered to face a public trial.