The body of the murdered deputy Eulalio Gomes arrives at the judicial morgue in Asuncion on Monday, August 19, 2024. A lawmaker in Paraguay’s ruling party was killed at his home Monday in a shootout with drug enforcement agents, police said. (Photo by DANIEL DUARTE / Agence France-Presse)
ASUNCION, Paraguay — A Paraguayan ruling party lawmaker was killed at his home Monday in a shootout with drug enforcement agents looking for his son, police said.
Officers came under fire at Eulalio Gomes’ home in the country’s northeast and shot back, “mortally wounding the parliamentarian,” according to police chief Carlos Benitez.
Gomes, 67, was a member of the conservative Colorado party.
The operation, police said, had targeted his son Alexandre under a warrant for “persons suspected of being part of a scheme of money laundering from drug trafficking and criminal association.”
Charges have also been filed against Eulalio Gomes but police said his arrest had not been on the cards as he enjoyed parliamentary protection.
His son later turned himself in.
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Colleagues of Gomes condemned the killing and asked for the heads of Benitez and the interior minister.
His lawyer, Oscar Tuma, claimed Gomes had been unarmed and was “killed in his bed.”
Paraguay is plagued by corruption and drug-related crime.
It has a score of 28 out of 100 on Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index, with zero being the lowest.
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Experts say landlocked Paraguay — nestled between Brazil, Bolivia and Argentina — has become an important launchpad for drugs headed to Europe.
“The links between drug trafficking and politics are becoming increasingly worrying,” Paraguayan criminologist Juan Martens told Agence France-Presse.
“There is information about… mayors, councilors of cities… and political leaders who are under suspicion,” he said.
Considered one of the richest politicians in Paraguay, Gomes owned 14 farms and 15,000 head of cattle, among other assets, according to official information.