A Bolivian judicial official was shot dead late Thursday in what authorities are treating as a targeted killing, deepening concerns over the reach of organized crime in the country’s economic heartland. Víctor Hugo Claure, a magistrate of the Tribunal Agroambiental and its dean, was ambushed as he returned to his home in a central Santa Cruz neighborhood. Two men on a motorcycle pulled up and fired at least six rounds, according to a preliminary account from prosecutor Yolanda Aguilar.
The Consejo de la Magistratura, Bolivia’s judicial council, released a statement honoring Claure’s “vocation, commitment and service” and said his legacy would endure.
Santa Cruz has experienced a sharp rise in violent crime, which the Bolivian government attributes to the presence of narcotrafficking organizations with ties to Brazilian cartels. The city is the country’s commercial hub and its most populated urban area. No group immediately claimed responsibility for Thursday’s killing, and the investigation remains active.