Sebastián Marset: Fugitive sends video thanking police for 'tip-off'

An alleged drug trafficker, who is the target of an international manhunt, has sent a video to the media in which he thanks Bolivian police for allegedly giving him prior warning of an attempt to arrest him.

On Saturday, Bolivian officers raided the home of Sebastián Marset, who is wanted in his native Uruguay, as well as in Brazil, Paraguay, and the US.

But Mr Marset, 32, managed to get away.

Bolivian police have denied tipping him off and continue to search for him.

More than 2,250 police officers have been deployed to track him down but he has so far given them the slip.

Officers moved to arrest him in the Bolivian city of Santa Cruz on Saturday but Mr Marset's bodyguards took one of them hostage and the wanted man managed to escape along with his wife and their children.

Police have since searched a total of eight properties and arrested a dozen people with suspected links to the Uruguayan but have so far failed to locate him.

On Wednesday, Bolivian media were sent a video recorded by the fugitive in which he appears to try to exonerate those who have been arrested.

"I don't implicate people who are innocent. None of these people who are in trouble have anything to do with my business, and they're going down the drain because of this," he says after briefly looking at the camera before pointing it at the sky above him.

"They're linking people everywhere [to the case against me] who have nothing to do with me."

He then proceeds to thank "the director of the Felcn (Bolivia's Special Force against Drug Trafficking)", whom he credits with helping him elude arrest.

"I managed to get away, because he warned me that the minister had issued an arrest warrant for me. And well, I grabbed some money, and he told me [it was time] to leave."

The director of the Felcn, Ismael Villca, has vehemently denied tipping off Mr Marset.

"I won't allow my career of 30 years to be sullied by the lies and statements of a drug trafficker," Mr Villca said, adding that the police had acted "impeccably".

The hunt for Mr Marset is being closely watched by the US Drug Enforcement Administration and in South American countries where he allegedly engaged in drug smuggling.

The 32-year-old is is accused of leading an international drugs cartel known as PCU or First Uruguayan Cartel, which smuggles cocaine from Paraguay through Uruguay to Europe.

He has also been named by the Colombian president as the man suspected of ordering the killing of Marcelo Pecci, a Paraguayan anti-crime prosecutor killed while on honeymoon in Colombia.

Pecci played a key part in "A Ultranza Py,", the biggest operation against cocaine trafficking and money laundering in Paraguay's history. Prosecutors say he was killed in revenge for dismantling the lucrative criminal business.

Bolivian authorities say Mr Marset entered their country shortly after he had been named as the man suspected of paying Marcelo Pecci's killers.