Julio Cesar Arriola, Paraguayan Foreign Minister requested the support of Secretary General António Guterres to tackle organized crime in the country. Jun. 15, 2022. | Photo: Twitter/@SoniaLucreciaG

Asuncion, June 16 (RHC)-- Paraguay's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Julio Cesar Arriola, has called on UN Secretary-General António Guterres for assistance in tackling organized crime. 

"Arriola requested the support of the Secretary-General and the specialized bodies of the United Nations System for the actions undertaken by the National Government in the fight against transnational organized crime," a statement from the Paraguayan Foreign Ministry said. 

The foreign minister met with the UN Secretary-General to bid farewell after ending his functions as permanent representative to the organization to take up the post of chancellor, according to the Ministry.   On behalf of Paraguayan President Mario Abdo Benítez, Arriola conveyed the invitation to visit Paraguay to the UN Secretary-General.

Regarding the organized crime situation in the country, the president said in early March that Paraguay is living "times of light." Abdo Benítez referred to the results obtained with the "A Ultranza PY" operation that uncovered drug trafficking and organized crime structures.

On May 10, Marcelo Pecci, a leading Paraguayan prosecutor in the fight against organized crime, was murdered in Colombia by two men who shot him while he was vacationing with his wife on a beach on the northern island of Baru.