Customs Officer Gunned Down on Paraguayan Border with Brazil

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – A man identified as Edgar Insfran was shot in front of his mother’s house on a busy street in Pedro Juan Caballero, a Paraguayan city neighboring Ponta Porã (Mato Grosso do Sul). According to information from Paraguay‘s National Police, he was a customs officer in the city.

According to Paraguayan police, Edgar was talking to another man in front of his parents’ house when the motorcyclist approached and fired. He was shot twice in the abdomen and walked into the family home, where he collapsed. The man was taken to the hospital by family members but did not survive.

The police are investigating the motivation for the crime. The border belt in Mato Grosso do Sul is facing a severe surge of violence this year. In 2018, 30 executions in the state were related to drug trafficking. In 2019, from January to the end of July, at least 70 deaths were recorded at the border and, according to Paraguayan police, most of them are linked to drug trafficking or the activities of criminal factions in the region.